Overview

Last known contact: October 19–20, 2018
Last known area: Rock Springs / Pine Mountain area, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
Age when missing: 74
Status: Missing; case remains unresolved
NamUs: MP53670

Terry J. Meador, a 74-year-old Rock Springs resident and experienced hunter, disappeared in October 2018 after traveling into the remote Pine Mountain area of Sweetwater County to scout for an upcoming hunt. His Chevrolet pickup was later discovered badly stuck on an access road north of Pine Mountain, but Meador was nowhere nearby.

The main circumstances are straightforward but puzzling: Meador apparently tried to free his stuck truck, left the vehicle on foot, and vanished. Searchers found boot tracks leading away from the truck and a partially smoked cigarette of the brand he used, but extensive searches failed to locate him.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Terry J. Meador Disappearance: Wyoming Hunter Vanished Near Pine Mountain in 2018

Brief Case Summary

Last known contact: October 19–20, 2018
Last known area: Rock Springs / Pine Mountain area, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
Age when missing: 74
Status: Missing; case remains unresolved
NamUs: MP53670

Terry J. Meador, a 74-year-old Rock Springs resident and experienced hunter, disappeared in October 2018 after traveling into the remote Pine Mountain area of Sweetwater County to scout for an upcoming hunt. His Chevrolet pickup was later discovered badly stuck on an access road north of Pine Mountain, but Meador was nowhere nearby.

The main circumstances are straightforward but puzzling: Meador apparently tried to free his stuck truck, left the vehicle on foot, and vanished. Searchers found boot tracks leading away from the truck and a partially smoked cigarette of the brand he used, but extensive searches failed to locate him.

Terry Meador Disappears During a Hunting Trip

Terry J. Meador lived in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and was well acquainted with hunting and the outdoors. According to his family, he had decades of outdoor experience and knew the country south of Sage Creek and around Pine Mountain. In October 2018, he was scouting territory ahead of a planned deer hunt.

Public records differ slightly on the exact date attached to his disappearance. NamUs-based records and The Charley Project list October 19, 2018 as his date of last contact or disappearance, while Wyoming missing-person summaries and some contemporary reports describe him as last heard from on October 20 or believed to have gone hunting shortly afterward. The difference appears to reflect the distinction between his last confirmed contact and when relatives believed he entered the hunting area.

What is not disputed is that Meador failed to return home.

His Truck Is Found Stuck Near Pine Mountain

The most important physical clue was Meador’s blue 2013 Chevrolet pickup.

The truck was discovered badly high-centered in a deep rut on an access road approximately 2¾ miles north of the summit of Pine Mountain. Evidence around the vehicle indicated Meador had tried to free it himself. Mud was present inside the vehicle, and a shovel apparently used during the attempted recovery was found with the truck.

His rifle, binoculars, hunting license, food and drinks were reportedly still inside the pickup. The driver’s window was down, which family believed may have allowed him to climb from the vehicle because of the severe angle at which it was stuck.

The condition of the truck strongly suggested that Meador had encountered trouble on the road and attempted to solve the problem before leaving on foot.

Footprints and a Cigarette Become Critical Clues

Investigators learned that another hunter had encountered the abandoned pickup before authorities located it.

According to later reporting, the hunter followed boot tracks heading west from Meador’s truck for roughly a mile along an access road before losing the tracks where the terrain changed. The sighting was reportedly disclosed after Meador had been reported missing.

Searchers also located a partially smoked cigarette approximately 200 yards west of the pickup. It was reportedly the same brand Meador smoked. The cigarette provided another indication that he had likely traveled west after leaving his vehicle.

Those clues established a probable direction of travel, but neither led search teams to Meador.

Massive Ground and Air Searches Find No Trace

Once Meador’s disappearance was reported and his truck located, Sweetwater County authorities mounted an extensive search.

Deputies, Sweetwater County Search and Rescue personnel, family members, friends and volunteers searched the Pine Mountain region. Fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters were also used. Searches were conducted repeatedly during late October 2018.

A particularly large search took place on November 3. More than 150 volunteers were reported to have participated, supplemented by professional search personnel and aerial resources. Despite the scale of the operation, investigators found no confirmed trace of Meador.

Cold temperatures, difficult terrain and worsening seasonal conditions eventually complicated further searching.

Why Would an Experienced Hunter Leave His Vehicle?

That question has remained one of the central mysteries of the case.

Meador was not an inexperienced visitor unfamiliar with Wyoming wilderness. His son described him as an avid outdoorsman who grew up around mountainous country and had spent decades hunting. Meador had even taught his son that when a vehicle became disabled in the wilderness, the safest decision was normally to stay with it.

Yet evidence suggests Meador did exactly the opposite.

One possibility is that he believed help, a road, cell reception or another occupied location was within walking distance. Once away from his truck, cold temperatures, difficult terrain, injury, disorientation or exposure could have created a life-threatening situation.

Authorities have generally treated becoming lost or injured in the wilderness as a leading possibility. The Charley Project summarizes the law-enforcement view as being that Meador may have become lost and died somewhere in the surrounding wilderness.

No publicly established evidence, however, conclusively explains what happened after he left his truck.

Other Leads Produced No Breakthrough

Over the years, investigators and Meador’s family considered additional pieces of information.

A phone call reportedly made from Meador’s phone to a local hotel was investigated, but his family could identify no clear reason he would have intentionally called the location. His son also explained that Meador did not regularly rely on his cell phone and that attempts to reach it went to voicemail.

A glove discovered in the search area was later examined, but reporting indicated that DNA testing was inconclusive and Meador’s son did not recognize the glove as belonging to his father.

No confirmed sighting after his disappearance, identifiable personal property away from the truck, or other physical evidence has publicly provided investigators with a definitive destination.

Family Continued Searching After the Official Search

Meador’s disappearance did not end when the large organized searches stopped.

In 2022, his son B.J. Meador told Cowboy State Daily that he continued trying to understand where his father might have gone. He believed the organized search had been extensive but remained uncertain whether searchers had been looking in the right place.

One possibility considered by the family was that Meador attempted to reach a highway and may have accepted a ride from someone. No publicly reported evidence has confirmed that scenario.

His son also acknowledged that, after years without a confirmed sighting, he was not expecting his father to still be alive. What the family wanted was an answer about where he went and what happened after he abandoned the truck.

Latest Publicly Available Case Information

Terry Meador remains publicly listed as a missing person.

CaseTrace’s current Wyoming missing-person directory continues to list Terry Meador of Rock Springs, last seen October 19, 2018, with NamUs case 53670. A Wyoming missing-person compilation published in 2025 likewise continued to list Meador as missing seven years after his disappearance and identified the same NamUs number.

The Charley Project also continues to classify the case as lost/injured missing and describes it as unresolved.

As of the latest publicly accessible information reviewed through August 2026, there has been no publicly announced recovery of Terry Meador, confirmed identification of remains as his, arrest, or reported investigative breakthrough that resolves the case. Public case databases continue to carry him as missing. This does not mean investigators possess no additional information; investigative material that has not been released publicly cannot be evaluated from available sources.

The most important established clues therefore remain much the same as they were after the original searches: the stranded pickup, evidence that Meador attempted to free it, boot tracks leading away from the vehicle and the partially smoked cigarette found west of the truck.

Terry Meador’s Case Remains Unsolved

More than seven years after Terry J. Meador disappeared into the Pine Mountain country of southwestern Wyoming, investigators and his family still do not have an answer.

His truck provided a starting point. His footprints provided a direction. The cigarette suggested he had traveled at least some distance from the vehicle.

Then the trail stopped.

For anyone who hunted, traveled or worked in the Pine Mountain, Sage Creek or surrounding Sweetwater County backcountry in October 2018, even a seemingly insignificant memory could potentially help establish where Meador went after leaving his pickup.

Anyone with information should contact the investigating authorities and reference Terry J. Meador’s case numbers, including NamUs MP53670 and the law-enforcement references associated with the investigation.