Edward Deen Eskridge, 16, of Green River, Wyoming, disappeared February 15, 1963, after a car accident approximately 29 miles north of Green River on Blue Rim Road in the White Mountain area of Sweetwater County. Eskridge and his 15-year-old brother, Richard, had left their grandparents' home to go rabbit hunting when their car overturned. According to accounts of the incident, Edward pulled Richard from the vehicle, left him with a fire and his own parka for warmth, and set out on foot in shirt sleeves to find help in below-freezing temperatures. Richard was located by an aerial search shortly afterward, but Edward was never found. Richard died four days later, on February 19, 1963, at a Rock Springs hospital, from injuries and pneumonia related to the crash.
A search led by Sweetwater County Sheriff George Nimmo and Rock Springs Police Chief Louis Muir grew to more than 200 volunteers, assisted by the Wyoming National Guard with four-wheel-drive vehicles and a helicopter. On February 22, 1963, searchers found footprints in a dry wash that investigators described as an encouraging but unconfirmed lead; the trail was subsequently lost to snowfall. Wyoming Gov. Cliff Hansen scaled back the organized search roughly ten days in, citing danger to searchers and the family's and sheriff's own assessment that survival was unlikely by that point. Edward Eskridge's body was never found. His disappearance directly led to the founding of the volunteer unit now known as Sweetwater County Search and Rescue, and a memorial marker was later placed at what is now named Eskridge Draw, roughly three miles from the crash site, near his last documented tracks. The case remains open and unsolved. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office at 307-922-5300 (reference case AF-473).
