Search continues for missing Missoula woman

Friends, family and law enforcement are searching for 43-year-old Eva Masin Prather, who disappeared from her home in Missoula Dec. 30. According to friends and family, she was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of her disappearance and left without personal items or identification.

Before moving to Missoula several years ago, she and her husband, Dave, grew vegetables in St. Ignatius. He’s now the general manager of the Western Montana Growers Coop and she’s a technical writer for the U.S. Forest Service.

She was last seen around 1:30 a.m. Dec. 30 and left home sometime before 6 a.m. There were no signs of a planned departure. Her keys, wallet, phone and car were still at the house.

She is 5’4” and 130 pounds, with blue eyes, shoulder-length brown hair and a large botanical tattoo on her back. She was believed to be inappropriately dressed for cold weather.

Friends teamed up with Missoula  law enforcement, which issued a Missing and Endangered Person Advisory Dec. 31, to conduct an exhaustive search of the neighborhood. While she has no known travel destination, they say she could be heading to Idaho, Washington or Oregon.

Supporters have launched a GoFundMe page to help pay for the search effort and support the family. It describes Prather as “a gentle, loving woman who has brought goodness to so many others (who) is experiencing a mental health crisis.”

Among the efforts to find her:

• Thousands of flyers have been distributed locally, regionally and nationally.

• Hundreds of people have been on the ground, searching, day after day in a combination of coordinated and independent efforts.

• Friends and family have been coordinating with each other and the police in an organized effort. A group with professional experience is focused on media and outreach, while others are organizing ground searches and  spreading the word.

• Leads are being pursued and investigated, and a coordinated canine search effort has occurred.

According to an update from the Missoula Police Department, posted Monday, Jan. 8, on the Search for Eva Facebook site, “Despite ongoing investigation and following multiple leads, no information has surfaced to indicate her current location or well-being.”

The department asks that anyone with information regarding Prather's whereabouts contact the Missoula Police Department at 406-552-6300, referencing MPD case number 2023-56230.

“Every piece of information, no matter how small, is crucial in ensuring Eva's safe return,” says the press release.