Studious Bigfork High School employees who noticed a 17-year-old student was absent from school, placed a phone call that might have saved Sierra Curtis’ life.

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell said that school employees called Curtis’ mother mid morning Monday after realizing the student was absent from school. 

Curtis’ mother, who thought her daughter was in school, checked the teen’s bedroom for clues, and when she did not find Curtis, her mother called the Lake County Sheriff’s Department emergency dispatch phone number for help. The teen and her mother live near Bigfork, but across the Lake County border, Bell said.

Sheriff’s deputies searched throughout Lake County and extended their search into Missoula and Flathead counties, he said.

Since Curtis was driving, she and her car’s description were televised across the state.

Curtis was found hours later by a Flathead County Sheriff’s deputy in Lakeside. 

She was ultimately returned to her mother’s custody, Bell said.