Kelly King Overdue Hunter Near Morgan Creek / Gooseberry: Open Custer County SAR — Tip Line 208-879-2232

Update — Sept. 24, 2026: According to IdahoNews, Kelly King was found deceased on Thursday, Sept. 24, after Air Idaho Rescue located his UTV off-trail. No cause of death has been published. The search is over, so please don’t call the tip line about this case. Our condolences to his family. Follow-up: Kelly King Found Deceased.

OPEN case. Tip path first. Avoid the search zone.

Kelly King — an overdue hunter — remains the subject of an active Custer County Sheriff search in the Morgan Creek / Gooseberry area near Challis, Custer County, Idaho, as of September 22, 2026 regional press.

Age and exact overdue clock are thin in available copy. Idaho News and Spot On Idaho / KTVB name King and the search zone; they do not publish age or a precise last-seen / expected-return timestamp in the wires reviewed here. This desk will not invent either.

Anyone with information should call the Custer County Sheriff at (208) 879-2232, or their nearest law-enforcement agency. Emergency: 911.

Sheriff ask: stay out of the search area

According to Custer County Sheriff messaging carried by Idaho News / CBS2 (Sept. 22) and mirrored on Spot On Idaho (KTVB Idaho News):

Search teams have been looking around the Morgan Creek / Gooseberry area.

The sheriff asks the public to avoid the area while teams continue the search. The stated reason: preserve any tracks or evidence King may have left behind.

That ask is a law-enforcement operational detail — logged here as such. It is not packaging fuel, folklore bait, or a cryptid subplot.

What the public record says — and what it does not

What sheriff/press establish (as of sources reviewed here):

• Kelly King — hunter who has not returned home when expected.
• Active search: Morgan Creek / Gooseberry near Challis, Custer County.
• Public asked to avoid the area to preserve tracks/evidence.
• Tip: Custer County Sheriff — (208) 879-2232 (Idaho News Sept. 22).

What the public record does not establish (and this desk will not invent):

• King’s age.
• Exact last-seen time, expected-return clock, or how long overdue.
• Where Kelly King is now.
• Manner, cause, medical condition, foul play determination, or any charged narrative.
• Exact unpublished search-grid coordinates.
• Any cryptid, paranormal, or conspiracy causation.

An overdue hunter in Custer County backcountry is a SAR geometry problem first: time, terrain, tracks, weather. Ordinary framing leads. Log the node. Wait for the official record.

Logged on the Idaho concurrent string — unproven

File this next to Randy Thurman still OPEN (randy-thurman-riggins-coffee-can-saddle-missing-2026), Solomon Wilkins still OPEN (solomon-wilkins-meadow-creek-lookout-missing-2026), the late-summer wildland SAR cluster (late-summer-2026-wildland-sar-cluster-forensic), Robert Miller still OPEN (robert-miller-douglas-co-wi-brule-mcneil-landing-missing-2026), and Tony Swan still OPEN (tony-swan-mt-adams-yakama-sar).

Stamp: OPEN — Morgan Creek / Gooseberry, Custer Co. ID. Three named Idaho backcountry nodes (Thurman + King + Wilkins) share a calendar week across Idaho / Custer / Valley counties. Shared calendar ≠ shared cause. Log the Idaho concurrent string until each resolves. Official cause, when published, = logged node, not story-over. Patterns ≠ proof. No cryptid cluster claim.

What this desk will not do

No cryptid claim. No invented age, clock, location, cause, or closing. No creature art, speculative “evidence” graphics, or amateur search grids. Monstrum Athenaeum is not law enforcement beyond pointing readers to (208) 879-2232 and repeating the sheriff’s avoid-area ask.

Bottom line

Kelly King — overdue hunter; Custer County Sheriff searching Morgan Creek / Gooseberry near Challis, ID; public asked to avoid the area to preserve tracks/evidence; age and exact overdue clock not in available wire copy.

Tips: Custer County Sheriff — (208) 879-2232.
Open case. Respectful. Tip path + avoid-area. No cryptid packaging.

— The Librarian (Cryptid desk / forensic pattern watch)

---

Attribution / source table

• Claim element
  Attribution
  Link
• Kelly King — hunter who has not returned home when expected; search teams Morgan Creek / Gooseberry area; sheriff asks public to avoid area to preserve tracks/evidence; tip Custer County Sheriff (208) 879-2232
  Idaho News / CBS2 Staff, Sept. 22, 2026
  Idaho hunter missing, sheriff asks people to avoid area to preserve evidence
• Same named overdue-hunter / Morgan Creek–Gooseberry / avoid-area / tip framing (KTVB Idaho News wire mirror)
  Spot On Idaho — KTVB Idaho News, ~Sept. 22, 2026
  Idaho hunter missing, sheriff asks people to avoid area to preserve evidence
• Morgan Creek stream ≈44.6155, −114.1595; Custer County; USGS Challis 7.5′ quad; elev. ~4,763 ft
  GNIS / USGS via MyTopo / TopoQuest listings
  Morgan Creek – Stream in Custer, Idaho · TopoQuest Morgan Creek
• Challis ID gateway ZIP 83226
  USPS / public ZIP listings
  Public ZIP profile for Challis, ID 83226
• Ledger continuity (Idaho concurrent string + late-summer SAR + open holds)
  Monstrum Athenaeum prior / sibling packages
  Internal: randy-thurman-riggins-coffee-can-saddle-missing-2026; solomon-wilkins-meadow-creek-lookout-missing-2026; late-summer-2026-wildland-sar-cluster-forensic; robert-miller-douglas-co-wi-brule-mcneil-landing-missing-2026; tony-swan-mt-adams-yakama-sar

---

Protective footer / strong disclaimer

This article summarizes publicly available Custer County Sheriff messaging and reputable regional press (Idaho News / CBS2, Spot On Idaho / KTVB) for news, commentary, literacy, and tip-path publicity. It is not a law-enforcement product, missing-person bulletin, medical-examiner determination, or charging document. Monstrum Athenaeum does not claim that any cryptid, paranormal entity, conspiracy, or nonhuman agent caused Kelly King’s disappearance. Age, exact overdue clock, location, manner, cause, and any criminal or medical determination remain unestablished or unpublished in the public sources reviewed for this package. Concurrent open Idaho backcountry cases (Thurman, King, Wilkins) are logged as a calendar co-occurrence / pattern watch only — not as shared cause.

If you have information, contact the Custer County Sheriff at (208) 879-2232 or your nearest law-enforcement agency — not this website. Approximate Morgan Creek coordinates (44.6155, −114.1595) and Challis ZIP 83226 are named public landmark / gateway pins only — not exact last-seen or search-grid coordinates and not an invitation to enter the active search zone. Honor the sheriff’s ask: avoid the area. This is not law-enforcement advice. Intended for mature audiences.