Montana man dies in Big Horn Mountains

A 59-year-old Montana man was found dead, seemingly of self-inflicted wounds, in the Bighorn Mountains on Sunday, May 25. 

According to Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn, Keith Paris and his family were visiting a family cabin near Sitting Bull Campground on Memorial Day weekend. Paris set off on a short hike around noon on Saturday, May 24 and went missing. His family searched for him independently until about 6 p.m., when they called Big Horn County Search and Rescue. 

“There were concerns because of his age of a possible medical condition,” Blackburn said. 

Crews worked into the night looking for Paris. 

South Big Horn County Search and Rescue member Sean Patrick led incident command; his crew was joined by their northern counterpart, Washakie County Search and Rescue and Big Horn County Sheriff’s Department. An Army National Guard helicopter was deployed from Cheyenne to assist in the search the next day and drones were used for additional coverage. 

Paris was discovered deceased in a thicket of willows approximately 400 yards from the family’s cabin at 5:50 p.m. on May 25. 

“It appears that he had died from self-inflicted wounds … the family was notified on scene,” said Blackburn, adding that a biopsy on scene determined no foul play occurred. 

Cause and manner of death will be determined by the Big Horn County Coroner’s Office.

“Our hearts go out to the family, our condolences to the family,” Blackburn said. “I want to thank all of the Search and Rescue squads that dedicated service on a Memorial Day weekend. They spent the better part of two days working on this case and deployed a plethora of resources and there was a lot of manpower expended to try and take care of this quickly.”