Missing Rathdrum man found deceased near Pearson

PEARSON – A Rathdrum man was found deceased in the wilderness of Shoshone County Monday afternoon after an apparent vehicle accident.

Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jeff Lee reports that Court Peterson, 60, was reported missing by his wife late Sunday night when he failed to return home from a camping trip to the Loop Creek/ Bullion Pass area.

Peterson left on his weekend trip in a green Jeep Wrangler Friday and was supposed to come home on Sunday.

With only a general location of where he may be, Lt. Lee and Sheriff Mike Gunderson set out Monday morning to locate Peterson.

Following several hours of searching, it was Lee who finally found signs of Peterson at approximately 2:30 p.m.

On his return trip down Loop Creek Road heading west, he spotted Peterson’s Jeep down an embankment off of Loop Creek Road- just 4.3 miles up from North Fork St. Joe River Road.

Lee explained that the vehicle was in dense brush roughly 15 feet down from the roadway, making it difficult for anyone on the road to see.

“He was off the roadway in the trees,” he said.

It also didn’t help that on his first drive up Loop Creek heading east, the driver side of Lee’s vehicle was closer to the mountainside and did not allow him to get a good view off the road on the south side.

Once officials were able to get down to the Jeep, they found Peterson in the vehicle deceased.

Based on the injuries sustained and the state of body, it is believed that Peterson crashed on Friday and was killed instantly upon impact with a tree. He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the incident.

It is unknown at this time what caused Peterson to leave the roadway. He and his wife were known to frequent the area quite regularly.

Lee and the rest of the Sheriff’s Office would like to stress the importance of wearing your seatbelt- especially when recreating in the wilderness.

“This might have been a non-injury crash if he had been wearing his seatbelt,” Lee said.

Next of kin has been notified.