CHALLIS, Idaho — The Custer County Sheriff's Office is looking for a man who had been held at the county jail on misdemeanor charges, but was granted medical furlough and did not return as ordered.
According to a news release from the sheriff's office, the court on Tuesday, March 21, granted 40-year-old Steven Pierson a furlough to receive treatment at Steele Memorial Center in Salmon. He was expected back at the jail in Challis by 9:30 p.m. MDT that night. However, the sheriff's office said, he did not return.
"Pierson is currently confined on misdemeanor, non-violent charges, but may be in possession of a firearm, allegedly a sidearm," the sheriff's office said in its news release, adding that he may be on his way to a family member in eastern Washington, possibly via Interstate 90, to another family member in Missouri via I-15 or I-70, or to a friend's home in Hamilton, Montana via I-90.
Idaho's online court database indicates Pierson had been sent to jail for a probation violation. He had been serving probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence.
Pierson is described as about 6 feet, 3 inches tall; weighing about 240 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes. The sheriff's office said he was last known to be wearing grey sweatpants and a white T-shirt.
Anyone who knows where Pierson is, or has seen him, is advised not to approach him and to instead contact the nearest law enforcement agency or the Custer County Sheriff's Office at 208-879-2232.
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