On Saturday, December 14th, 2024, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office suspended the search for 46-year-old Alicia Wood.
The Conrad Police Department received a missing person’s report on November 30th concerning Alicia Wood, a resident of Conrad, who was last seen on November 22nd. The investigation directed authorities to the High Plains Landfill, situated several miles northeast of Great Falls, where the search commenced on Thursday, December 5th.
The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, along with several partners, spent nine days combing through extensive piles of garbage. At this time, Alicia Wood has not been found.
“This is not a decision we took lightly, however; we feel we have conducted a thorough search of our landfill based on the information and leads provided,” stated Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter.
The investigation and search efforts will continue under the lead of the Pondera County Sheriff’s Office and DCI. The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office will assist these agencies in whatever way possible to find Alicia Wood.
“As I said at the beginning of our search this is just one lead in this investigation. I’m confident that the Division of Criminal Investigation will continue to follow all current and future leads,” Sheriff Slaughter expressed.
The community has come together in this search including Taco Treat, and Brian’s Top Notch Cafe donating lunches to help feed the dedicated workers.
CERT – Cascade County, Montana volunteers have worked tirelessly taking care of the crews and helping them stay warm.
DES, Director, Joey Zahera has done an outstanding job with planning and logistics. Joey also coordinated all of the food donations. He constantly stayed a step ahead of the crews and the incident command trying to anticipate the needs of the workers.
The Great Falls Police Department utilized drones extensively throughout this operation to obtain aerial views that may reveal potential evidence. These drones were operated by certified pilots and have been provided by the Great Falls Police Community Foundation.
HL Ventures operated their excavator continuously, achieving rapid progress given the vastness of the search area. Les Payne and his team from Cascade County Public Works actively ran two front-end loaders daily, with additional support provided by a bulldozer from Republic Services. “We cannot express enough how grateful we are for the immense state-wide support we’re receiving,” explained Sheriff Slaughter.
If you have information about Alicia Wood, please contact DCI at (406) 444-3874.
Please continue to watch for further updates in The Great Falls Gazette as we gather more information.
Author: Karen Anderson
Karen is the Editor-in-Chief overseeing all news operations at Foxys Publishing Co. She also loves photography and spending time with her dogs.
