On Sunday, October 21, Phillips County Dispatch received a call from a hunter in south Phillips County stating that he had found a deceased male.
Undersheriff Burt Peigneux responded to the Nichols Coulee area on the CMR Refuge to investigate.
The Phillips County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon that the male is believed to be Shaun Kim Nelson of Washington who was reported missing from his vehicle on August 31 near Highway 191 and Beaver Creek Road south of Malta.
The body was removed from the area and taken to Kirkwood Funeral Home and has been taken from there to Billings for an autopsy to determine the cause of death and positive identification.
The search for Nelson was suspended on September 6th after approximately 200 square miles were searched by aircraft, specialized K9 units, and personnel to include local, state, federal law enforcement, and citizen volunteers.
We will update you as we get more information.
On Sunday, September 2, the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office issued an “attempt to locate” alert for Shaun Kim Nelson, and as of October 1st, he is still missing. Nelson was last seen near mile marker 119 on US Highway 191 running east through the field the morning of Friday, August 31. The Sheriff’s Office said Nelson may have mental health issues.
A family member contacted KRTV and said: “His disappearance is totally out of character for him, and at this point we believe he IS NOT a danger to anyone…except possibly to himself.” Another family member said he has family in Wolf Point (MT); Power (MT); Boise (ID); and spent many years living in Seattle (WA), so he could possibly be headed to any of those areas.
The Sheriff’s Office said it has had, and will continue as necessary, trained search pilots looking for him.
A person involved in the search shared the following information with KRTV:
Our story begins 2 weeks ago when Shaun travelled to Montana to visit family before revealing a business venture he had been working on for the last year which was supposed to be a game changer in the business industry and financial institution. While there he began exhibiting signs of paranoia in the form of fears/delusions that the government was tracking his whereabouts/actions.
While staying with his father in Wolf Point, his paranoia was so bad that he tried to disguise himself as his dad and borrowed his car to throw the government off his trail. He was later caught on security footage in Glasgow pleading to be let into a strangers house saying his life was in danger and he was being followed by the CIA.
This all culminated in an incident where he jumped out of his car and took off on foot into the unforgiving wilderness of eastern MT near the town of Zortman.
There has been an extensive search on foot, by K-9 units and by air with many friends and family joining in the search effort. As of 10 days later there have been no leads and no sign of Shaun.
He has no history of mental illness and his disappearance and behavior leading up to it are completely 100% out of character.
A Facebook group has been created to assist with and coordinate search efforts.
Anyone who sees Nelson or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Phillips County Sheriff’s Office at 406-654-2350.
On the 21st of October 2018 the Phillips County Dispatch received a call from a hunter in south Phillips County stating…
Posted by Phillips County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday, October 23, 2018
