At a glance
- Location: Lolo Hot Springs RV Park, Missoula County, Montana
- Case period: Night of July 7, 2018
- Victim: A 5-month-old infant left in the care of a relative while his mother worked
- Critical clue: A wrecked blue Chevrolet Corsica, found abandoned deep in the forest, that investigators say explains how the night went so wrong
It began as a routine trespassing complaint. By the time deputies reached Lolo Hot Springs RV Park that July evening in 2018, they were dealing with something far more urgent: a missing infant, a man who could not keep his story straight, and a search racing against a dropping mountain temperature, according to 911 recordings and court records later released by Missoula County authorities.
A Trespassing Call Turns Frantic
The first 911 call was simple. A campground employee reported that a man had returned to the property after being trespassed and ticketed on two prior occasions. Dispatch sent deputies, expecting a routine citation. Within minutes, a second call came in from an employee identified as Christie, who told dispatch the man — later identified as 32-year-old Francis Crowley — was walking the road “frantic,” asking customers, “Is that my baby?” according to the recorded call. Crowley did not have the child with him, and no one on scene knew where the infant was.
“He’s Got a Gun in His Pocket”
As deputies were still en route, the situation escalated further. The same caller told dispatch that Crowley was threatening an employee and appeared to have a weapon, and that the baby’s mother — identified in records as Alicia Mitchell — was now standing in the road herself, trying to get to her son. An off-duty Forest Service ranger who happened to be on the property took the phone and added another detail dispatchers hadn’t yet heard: there had reportedly been a car crash nearby, and the child may have been inside the vehicle when it went off the road.
A reserve deputy staying at the campground told investigators he confronted Crowley and Mitchell directly. According to his statement, Crowley admitted his car had gone off an embankment and said, “My baby’s in there.” When Mitchell asked where her son was, the reserve deputy said Crowley told her he had “given him to the maintenance guy” — then appeared ready to strike her before fleeing on foot.
“The Kid Is Dead and Buried in the Woods”
Hours later, campground guests spotted Crowley again and held him down until deputies arrived. As officers took him into custody, another 911 call came in reporting something no one wanted to hear.
“He said the Francis gentleman just told him that the kid is dead and buried in the woods. I don’t know if he — I don’t know, just that’s what was said.”
Deputies noted blood on Crowley’s hands and knees. He denied making the statement, and in the hours that followed he offered investigators several different, conflicting accounts of where the baby was — in a car with a “maintenance man,” buried under sticks to “stay warm,” or with his sister, whom he accused of hiding the child herself.
Nothing But Trespassing
Crowley agreed to lead deputies into the woods to find his son. Once there, he pointed toward movement in the headlights that turned out to be nothing. After an extended, fruitless search in the dark, exhausted deputies faced a hard reality: they had a chaotic, contradictory suspect, no confirmed crime beyond a trespassing citation, and no baby. “He can go to jail for trespassing. That’s all we got right now,” one deputy said on scene recordings, as the group prepared to head back toward the main road empty-handed. For a window of time that night, the only charge investigators could actually hold Crowley on had nothing to do with the missing child at all.
A Helicopter, a Wrecked Car, and a Sound in the Dark
The break came from the air. A Life Flight helicopter crew spotted a blue Corsica deep in the timber, matching the description given earlier that night. Investigators later retraced the path the car had taken through the trees, stunned that it had traveled as far as it had without rolling. But locating the car did not locate the baby.
At around 2 a.m., searchers on foot near the wreck heard what one deputy’s report described as unmistakably a child. A searcher later wrote that he heard a stick break underfoot and then saw “a small baby fist moving.” The infant was found face down, cold and covered by a mound of sticks and dirt, according to the report. He was alive. Deputies noted he began coughing up small sticks as he was carried off the mountain, and that he drank an entire bottle of Pedialyte in less than a minute once medical personnel reached him.
A Relationship No One Expected
As the search wound down, investigators turned to a detail that had bothered them from the start: the exact nature of the bond between Crowley and Mitchell. Crowley initially told deputies Mitchell was his sister and the baby his nephew. Mitchell, too, initially denied any romantic relationship. But Mitchell’s estranged husband and the baby’s biological father both told investigators the two were involved romantically, according to court records, and Mitchell later admitted in a follow-up interview that the relationship was sexual. Records show Crowley had prior convictions for burglary, robbery and obstructing law enforcement, and Mitchell told investigators she had reconnected with him after learning he’d been in prison.
Drugs, a Shotgun, and Federal Charges
Blood tests taken that night showed Crowley was positive for THC and methamphetamine. The baby’s toxicology screen came back positive for the same substances, according to court records. Investigators also learned Mitchell had a 12-gauge shotgun at the campsite for protection from wildlife — a weapon Crowley, a convicted felon barred from possessing firearms, had reportedly wanted to use himself. Photos later found showing Crowley posing with the gun led to a separate federal case.
Where the Case Stands Today
In February 2019, Crowley pleaded no contest to assault on a minor under 36 months old and pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment and child endangerment. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison with 10 years suspended, according to court records. In March 2020, he pleaded guilty in a related federal case to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition, receiving a 36-month federal sentence, with part of that time running concurrently and part consecutively to his state sentence. The baby, treated and released after several days of hospital observation, was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. The case remains one investigators in Missoula County still reference when discussing how quickly a routine trespassing call can turn into a life-or-death search against the clock.
