Investigators are searching for a 23-year-old man who disappeared last month from his hometown in Idaho.
Charlie McBride was last seen on February 25, 2019 at his home in Challis. That morning, according to Charlie’s sister-in-law Mari McBride, Charlie was reportedly supposed to work for a local man named Ben Savage, who owns an excavation company in town.
“Charlie had been working for [Ben] off and on. He was helping him cut wood and load wood and things like that,” Charlie’s sister-in-law Mari told Dateline. “Ben says he had come by to get Charlie to go work with him that day. But when Ben went to go pick him up, Ben says he wasn’t there.”
Charlie’s live-in girlfriend, Samantha Mariah, would later tell family she was aware Charlie was going to work with Ben that day. According to Mari, Samantha thought Charlie had left for work that morning. But he didn’t return home that evening. After a few days of not hearing from her boyfriend, Samantha posted on Facebook asking for help.
“MISSING!!!! Has anyone seen Charlie McBride? Charlie has been missing for 5 days now no one has seen or heard from him,” Samantha wrote. “Last seen going to work and never seen being dropped off or heard from since. If anyone has seen or heard from him please contact me or the police.”
Dateline was unable to each either Samantha Mariah or Ben Savage for their recollection of events the day of Charlie’s disappearance as of Monday evening.
In a post on Facebook, Custer County Sheriff Stu Lumpkin detailed some of the investigative efforts being conducted to find help Charlie.
“On March 7, 2019 from 10:30 am to 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon the Custer County Sheriff’s Office was at the property where Ben Savage works,” Sheriff Lumpkin wrote. “The area was checked for any fresh fire pits and fresh dug holes, there was no evidence of any fresh dug holes or any fire pits found on the property. All buildings were checked and Charlie was not found in the Morgan Creek area.”
Sheriff Lumpkin also urged the public to come forward with any information on Charlie’s whereabouts.
“Everyone is posting things on Facebook but yet no [one] has come into the Sheriff’s Office or even called with any information. Ben Savage has cooperated 100% in this investigation,” he wrote.
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office did not reply to Dateline’s request for comment. The Idaho State Police issued a missing persons flyer for Charlie on which they say he uses a rescue inhaler. The flyer indicated Charlie may have traveled to the Buhl, Idaho area, which is about two hours from Challis. According to Mari, Charlie’s father lives in Buhl.
“He is not somebody who would just take off in the middle of winter, hitch a ride and leave town,” Mari told Dateline. “This is a long time – this is three weeks that nobody has seen or heard from him. And that’s just not like him.”
Charlie McBride is described as a white male who is 6’1” tall, with blond hair and weighs 200 lbs. Charlie has tattoos on both of his arms, his left hand, his leg, his right calf, and his right shoulder. If you have any information on Charlie’s whereabouts, please call the Custer County Sheriff’s Office at 208-879-2232.
