Custer County Sheriff’s Office resolves missing persons case from 1983

CHALLIS, Idaho (KIFI)- The Custer County Sheriff's Office has solved a missing persons case from 1983, bringing closure to the family of Lois Ford more than four decades after she disappeared from Challis, Idaho.

Ford, who was 40 years old when she vanished along with her 1978 Ford Thunderbird, died in 1993 while experiencing homelessness.

For decades, Ford's family searched for her using private detectives, law enforcement connections and psychic mediums, but they were unable to find any trace of her. The investigation gained traction in 2025 when family members contacted the Custer County Sheriff's Office, where investigator Dave Wells discovered that Ford had never been officially reported as a missing person due to confusion among family members.

After entering Ford into a national missing persons database, Wells partnered with Investigator Karl Noah of the Idaho State Police. Investigators searched hundreds of unidentified remains cases across Idaho, Oregon and Nevada; historical accident archives throughout central and eastern Idaho; and genealogical databases.

A break occurred when investigators discovered an alias similar to Ford's name in 1992 court records from another Idaho county. Handwriting analysis on signatures from the court documents showed proof of life in the Boise area in 1992.

Wells searched the Idaho State Fingerprint Repository and identified additional aliases associated with Ford, prompting him to contact Det. Tim Cooper with the Ada County Sheriff's Office. Historical Boise Police Department records revealed multiple contacts with Ford, which led investigators to an Ada County Coroner case from 1993.

Investigators reviewed scene photos from the 1993 case and determined the decedent was Ford, which family members then confirmed through positive identification. Officials noted that Ford had been experiencing homelessness and mental illness prior to her passing and she was interred under an alias because the coroner was unable to locate next of kin at the time.

Following the identification, Ford's family was reunited with her remains. “The children and grandchildren of Lois Ford were able to reclaim their mother and grandma and give her name back to her,” the Custer County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.