GREAT FALLS — Searchers got started early on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at the Republic Services landfill several miles northeast of Great Falls, one day after Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter announced that the remains of 46-year-old Alicia Wood of Conrad might be found there.
Slaughter said during a news conference on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, that Wood was reported missing on November 30; the reporting party said that she had last been seen on November 22.
Wood's car — a 2005 black Cadillac — was found on November 27 between Brady and Conrad and impounded. Conrad police officers found blood inside the vehicle.
Conrad Police Chief Cory Smith asked the Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to assist with the investigation.
Slaughter said on Wednesday that a "person of interest" in the investigation is now in custody on an unrelated charge of probation violation.
The name of the person has not been released at this point.
Slaughter said that the investigation has led them to the county landfill near Floweree in Cascade County, operated by Republic Services.
Neither Slaughter nor Smith would give specifics about what led to the landfill being identified as a possible location.
A crime scene about the size of three football fields was established in the landfill on Wednesday, and excavation efforts are now underway.
Slaughter noted that the search will take time: “That evidence has already been dumped. That evidence has already been bulldozed over. We know this could be a several-day operation.”
He also said that although investigators have reason to believe Wood is dead, he emphasized that this is still a missing person case.
Anyone with information that may help should call 911 or their nearest law enforcement agency.
Agencies that are participating in or assisting with the search include the Cascade Sheriff's Office, the Pondera County Sheriff's Office, the Conrad Police Department, Great Falls Police Department, Cascade County Search & Rescue, DCI, Cascade County Public Works, Great Falls Fire Rescue, Montana Probation & Parole, and the Salvation Army's "Sally One" mobile canteen to provide food and drink to the personnel involved.
The Cascade County Civil Emergency Response Team (CERT) has also been activated to assist with the search.
