78-year-old missing for month found dead after his car got stuck, Montana cops say
A 78-year-old man appears to have died from hypothermia after taking shelter from bad weather in a non-running farm truck, Montana deputies said.
Lynn Taskila, of Great Falls, was missing for about a month when his body was found Jan. 23 on a farm north of Rudyard, the Hill County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.
No foul play is suspected in his death, deputies said.
Taskila was last seen leaving a business in Great Falls on Dec. 24, according to the Great Falls Police Department, which investigated his disappearance.
The search for Taskila included using a helicopter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Montana air unit, the police department said in a Facebook post.
It appears Taskila’s vehicle got stuck while navigating “a two-track road in a desolate area,” according to the sheriff’s office. He was about five miles from a main road, and “neither he nor his vehicle could be seen from the main road,” deputies said.
“At some point,” deputies said, Taskila made his way on foot to the farm three miles away and got into the non-running farm truck, where he was ultimately found.
A farm house was nearby, but it was locked for the winter, deputies said, adding that their “hearts go out to the family at this difficult time.”
Great Falls is about a 90-mile drive northeast from Helena.
This story was originally published January 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM with the headline "78-year-old missing for month found dead after his car got stuck, Montana cops say."
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