David Milton Crouch, 27, of Stevensville, Maryland, disappeared on August 31, 1997, while on a week-long horseback camping and fishing trip with three friends and an outfitter guide in the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Sublette County, Wyoming. The group had arranged to fish separately that day and meet at the Fremont Crossing trail junction at 2 p.m. A member of the group last saw Crouch fishing on the shore of Island Lake, at roughly 10,400 feet elevation, around noon. When he did not return to the group's camp at Lost Lake by nightfall, the group began searching and reported him missing to authorities the following morning. One group of hikers later told investigators they had passed a man matching Crouch's description — wearing a red and black flannel shirt and carrying a fishing rod — on a trail several miles north and east of the lake at approximately 7 p.m.; the man did not respond when they said hello, and his identity was never confirmed. Crouch was dressed in jeans, a flannel shirt, and hiking boots, and was not carrying a tent, sleeping bag, food, water, or cold-weather gear. Overnight temperatures in the area dropped into the 30s Fahrenheit that night, with colder temperatures and light snow in the days that followed.
The Sublette County Sheriff's Office led the search, assisted by approximately 50 local search-and-rescue volunteers using dog teams, horses, and helicopters over roughly two weeks; no trace of Crouch or his fishing rod was ever recovered. The case remains open and unresolved. Crouch is listed with the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation's missing persons database. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sublette County Sheriff's Office at 307-367-4378 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at 307-777-7181. Case Number 97-2891.
