Boise-area developer goes missing in Idaho mountains

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to indicate that law enforcement is not currently looking for search volunteers. They ask members of the public to avoid the search area.

Matt Schultz, a prominent local real estate developer, is said to have left his home in Meridian to explore land in Owyhee County. His family said he has not been seen or heard from since.

Schultz, 50, was seen leaving his home on South Calusa Avenue in a light green 2021 Toyota Tacoma on Wednesday afternoon.

His last cellphone ping came from 60 miles south of the Bennett Mountains in Owyhee County, possibly in the Bruneau Canyon area on the same day.

“There has been no phone activity since then,” his niece Elise Woolstenhulme told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. “Nothing, nothing at all as far as communication goes.”

A breakthrough in the search came on Sunday afternoon when a volunteer pilot spotted Schultz’s truck from the air 30 miles from his last phone call.

Schultz typically spends weekdays living alone at his Meridian home, then returns to Pocatello on weekends at his home where his wife and children live. One of his favorite hobbies is flying drones. He often spends his free time exploring areas where he can fly them.

“He’s not the best communicator of what he’s going to do or where he’s going to go,” Woolstenhulme said. “And so on Wednesday when he went out to fly his drone, he didn’t tell anyone where he was going. But it’s not uncommon for his wife Robyn not to hear from him because he’s been flying his drone. Thursday, she was worried.

On Friday, she filed a missing person report with the police. Meridian officers performed a wellness check at his home, but he was not there.

Police search in progress

On Sunday, law enforcement began focusing their search near the Bruneau Canyon River around the Cave Draw area.

Schultz’s family originally asked for research volunteers. The Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office said it was no longer asking for volunteers and instead asking the public to avoid the area as law enforcement was conducting its own search.

Schultz is the father of four children, including two 5-month-old twin girls. He is the owner of Schultz Development, a land development and consulting company.

Last week, Schultz took drone footage of the Bruneau Canyon area and put video of it on YouTube. He told his son that he wanted to come back to the area soon.

This story was originally published July 10, 2022 4:02 p.m.