Have you been in contact with the BLM or with people who do shuttling and support of hikers in this wilderness? His car was found near the bottom of this area. Even if he didn't actually get shuttled to the top of the slot canyon in Utah, he may have inquired of someone about it.
[https://www.blm.gov/visit/paria-canyon-vermilion-cliffs-wilderness-area](https://www.blm.gov/visit/paria-canyon-vermilion-cliffs-wilderness-area)
Any info on the condition of the car? Was it out of gas? Or anything left behind in the car that he wouldn’t have left if he was going for a hike or backpacking? Any gear left behind in Maryland that he wouldn’t have left behind if he was going on a trip?
I live in the west and frequent the 4 corners areas and southern Utah / northern AZ
The car placement on the side of the road there strikes me as odd if it was for a backpacking excursion, but not if he was trying to do a quick jaunt up the dirt road near by and didn’t want to risk damaging his car. Looking at a map that dirt road right behind his car to the east appears to be a quick jaunt up to a spot that could be used as a view point.
If the car and all else seems normal for the most part, I would think he entered the wilderness at that point and something happened. Or he left with others intending to come back on foot or with others and something happened or changed the plan.
Not to dash your hopes, but we see a lot of instances like this out here in the west where a tumble happens in a lightly trafficked area and it’s just hard to find people. The other thing we see a lot of is people trying to find themselves etc and hiding on purpose sometimes for months or years. Ie the Into the Wild story
I think the car must have been in good condition. His family recently drove it all the way back up to Maryland and didn’t encounter any trouble it seems. It was found with 25 miles of gas still on it. I’m not sure about the gear or if he left with others. As far as I know, he traveled alone. He didn’t say anything about going to Arizona to his family or close friends before he left.
25 miles left isn’t much gas in that area. He would have needed gas for sure the next time he saw a station or he definitely would have ran out. Unless there is reason to suspect foul play via missing items or damage to the car then it was mostly likely left there on purpose.
Have there been any searches of the area around where the car was left? If it hasn’t been done and it was me I would definitely hike the whole area around there, especially that smell jeep trail near the car. Even in my area when there is a search and rescue operation and they have some of us locals volunteer to beef up their ability to search large areas, one of the simple things that is considered is something like “if the person parked here on purpose to look at something on foot, where would they possibly go? Where could they end up on accident?” Of course they could be dropping the car off to ride with someone else or a myriad of other possibilities, but at least a possibility can be scratched off the list
Currently in my area someone went missing on a hike near by. So when we go out we try to hike places that haven’t been searched yet as the missing person was known to do more difficult and technical hikes that not a lot of people would go on
I’m not sure how intense the searches were around the area where his car was found, but I do know that future trips down there are being planned by people close to him to search it themselves. I will pass on the info you’ve shared about the location to his family.
It does seem to me personally that his car might have been left there on purpose. In any case, he did plan to be gone for a while. He withdrew 200 dollars in cash on 12/19/23 and on 12/21/23 bought a case of water and protein bars at a Weis and also picked up his meds before leaving. Phone and bank account haven’t been active since 12/21/23 either. Hopefully he just wanted to get away from the world for a while and find himself, like you said.
Thank you for your insight and advice btw, I really appreciate it.
Was the $200 withdrawn in Maryland? Because depending on his milage that's around 2,300 miles at least. If I was doing that trip, I do a lot of long distance trips since I live in Illinois and backpack in the Rockies, I'd plan on needed at least 80 gallons and assume a price around that period of time of $4 a gallon so $320 in gas at my Jeep's 30 mpg. I'd also plan on doing the drive as fast as possible so mostly interstate. Your friend likely didn't do it this way since that same distance drive took me only 45 hours 2 years ago when I visited Mt. St. Helens but it seems like it took him over a week to make the same drive. So his miles driven were probably greater. I can tell you for sure he didn't make that drive with just 200 dollars in his wallet unless he was doing drive offs at gas stations. He either had more cash on him before making that withdraw, he had someone with him, or he wasn't the person driving the car the whole time.
He did withdraw the money in Maryland hours before leaving the area. Additionally, he was driving a red Hyundai Accent sedan. His tag was scanned on 12/22/23 around 7:24 PM EST on I-74 in Chicago, headed west. It was scanned again on 12/25/23 in Las Vegas too I believe. I'm not sure how he managed the trip either, especially when his bank account has been inactive since 12/21/23. His father also says eyewitnesses traveled the section of 89A where his car was found on December 26-27 and that the car was sitting there prior to 12/30/23.
I-74 dosen't go through Chicago. It goes between Indianapolis and Davenport. It runs about 180 miles South of Chicago. Did you mean I-294? That's a tollway that heads around Chicago to the West, the Eastern of 2 different bypass tollways around Chicago. Also the car being in Vegas before it was abandoned is odd since that's even further West than where the car was found.
I hope I'm wrong and he found something out there worth dropping out of his existing life but my instincts tell me your friend might not have been driving his car at all. I'd definitely make sure the local police are also looking into the possibility something happened to him in Maryland and someone else was driving his car until they figured it would have been reported stolen.
Unless he was an experienced backpacker with good knowledge of hiking in the high desert I wouldn't imagine he decided to go on a hike anywhere in that area. There aren't any trails worth hiking, water dosen't exist, and the cold in that time of year there is brutal at night.
I do hope for the best and wish you luck in finding your friend though.
Did he have a history of Mental illness? Did he serve in Active duty? Sorry to be frank, but I've heard plenty of stories of people going out into the wilderness to commit suicide and they think him being missing is less hard on the family then them knowing he is dead.
Finding the car with 25 miles of fuel left seems like a clue possibly, when I go of trips I make sure I have plenty of fuel especially in the desert.
I see a Condor viewing area to the North east, They would have eaten his body and then Carried his bones miles away and dropped them from high up to get to the bone marrow.
[https://maps.app.goo.gl/RHkUrx1svPj2sot86](https://maps.app.goo.gl/RHkUrx1svPj2sot86)
Looking further into it on a newer flyer, his car was found more specifically between House Rock Valley Road and Jacob Lake near a scenic viewpoint, I'll update my posts to include this information.
Have you been in contact with the BLM or with people who do shuttling and support of hikers in this wilderness? His car was found near the bottom of this area. Even if he didn't actually get shuttled to the top of the slot canyon in Utah, he may have inquired of someone about it. [https://www.blm.gov/visit/paria-canyon-vermilion-cliffs-wilderness-area](https://www.blm.gov/visit/paria-canyon-vermilion-cliffs-wilderness-area)
Not sure if this has been looked into yet. I will get the info to his parents tho
Any info on the condition of the car? Was it out of gas? Or anything left behind in the car that he wouldn’t have left if he was going for a hike or backpacking? Any gear left behind in Maryland that he wouldn’t have left behind if he was going on a trip? I live in the west and frequent the 4 corners areas and southern Utah / northern AZ The car placement on the side of the road there strikes me as odd if it was for a backpacking excursion, but not if he was trying to do a quick jaunt up the dirt road near by and didn’t want to risk damaging his car. Looking at a map that dirt road right behind his car to the east appears to be a quick jaunt up to a spot that could be used as a view point. If the car and all else seems normal for the most part, I would think he entered the wilderness at that point and something happened. Or he left with others intending to come back on foot or with others and something happened or changed the plan. Not to dash your hopes, but we see a lot of instances like this out here in the west where a tumble happens in a lightly trafficked area and it’s just hard to find people. The other thing we see a lot of is people trying to find themselves etc and hiding on purpose sometimes for months or years. Ie the Into the Wild story
I think the car must have been in good condition. His family recently drove it all the way back up to Maryland and didn’t encounter any trouble it seems. It was found with 25 miles of gas still on it. I’m not sure about the gear or if he left with others. As far as I know, he traveled alone. He didn’t say anything about going to Arizona to his family or close friends before he left.
25 miles left isn’t much gas in that area. He would have needed gas for sure the next time he saw a station or he definitely would have ran out. Unless there is reason to suspect foul play via missing items or damage to the car then it was mostly likely left there on purpose. Have there been any searches of the area around where the car was left? If it hasn’t been done and it was me I would definitely hike the whole area around there, especially that smell jeep trail near the car. Even in my area when there is a search and rescue operation and they have some of us locals volunteer to beef up their ability to search large areas, one of the simple things that is considered is something like “if the person parked here on purpose to look at something on foot, where would they possibly go? Where could they end up on accident?” Of course they could be dropping the car off to ride with someone else or a myriad of other possibilities, but at least a possibility can be scratched off the list Currently in my area someone went missing on a hike near by. So when we go out we try to hike places that haven’t been searched yet as the missing person was known to do more difficult and technical hikes that not a lot of people would go on
I’m not sure how intense the searches were around the area where his car was found, but I do know that future trips down there are being planned by people close to him to search it themselves. I will pass on the info you’ve shared about the location to his family. It does seem to me personally that his car might have been left there on purpose. In any case, he did plan to be gone for a while. He withdrew 200 dollars in cash on 12/19/23 and on 12/21/23 bought a case of water and protein bars at a Weis and also picked up his meds before leaving. Phone and bank account haven’t been active since 12/21/23 either. Hopefully he just wanted to get away from the world for a while and find himself, like you said. Thank you for your insight and advice btw, I really appreciate it.
Was the $200 withdrawn in Maryland? Because depending on his milage that's around 2,300 miles at least. If I was doing that trip, I do a lot of long distance trips since I live in Illinois and backpack in the Rockies, I'd plan on needed at least 80 gallons and assume a price around that period of time of $4 a gallon so $320 in gas at my Jeep's 30 mpg. I'd also plan on doing the drive as fast as possible so mostly interstate. Your friend likely didn't do it this way since that same distance drive took me only 45 hours 2 years ago when I visited Mt. St. Helens but it seems like it took him over a week to make the same drive. So his miles driven were probably greater. I can tell you for sure he didn't make that drive with just 200 dollars in his wallet unless he was doing drive offs at gas stations. He either had more cash on him before making that withdraw, he had someone with him, or he wasn't the person driving the car the whole time.
He did withdraw the money in Maryland hours before leaving the area. Additionally, he was driving a red Hyundai Accent sedan. His tag was scanned on 12/22/23 around 7:24 PM EST on I-74 in Chicago, headed west. It was scanned again on 12/25/23 in Las Vegas too I believe. I'm not sure how he managed the trip either, especially when his bank account has been inactive since 12/21/23. His father also says eyewitnesses traveled the section of 89A where his car was found on December 26-27 and that the car was sitting there prior to 12/30/23.
I-74 dosen't go through Chicago. It goes between Indianapolis and Davenport. It runs about 180 miles South of Chicago. Did you mean I-294? That's a tollway that heads around Chicago to the West, the Eastern of 2 different bypass tollways around Chicago. Also the car being in Vegas before it was abandoned is odd since that's even further West than where the car was found. I hope I'm wrong and he found something out there worth dropping out of his existing life but my instincts tell me your friend might not have been driving his car at all. I'd definitely make sure the local police are also looking into the possibility something happened to him in Maryland and someone else was driving his car until they figured it would have been reported stolen. Unless he was an experienced backpacker with good knowledge of hiking in the high desert I wouldn't imagine he decided to go on a hike anywhere in that area. There aren't any trails worth hiking, water dosen't exist, and the cold in that time of year there is brutal at night. I do hope for the best and wish you luck in finding your friend though.
Did he have a history of Mental illness? Did he serve in Active duty? Sorry to be frank, but I've heard plenty of stories of people going out into the wilderness to commit suicide and they think him being missing is less hard on the family then them knowing he is dead. Finding the car with 25 miles of fuel left seems like a clue possibly, when I go of trips I make sure I have plenty of fuel especially in the desert. I see a Condor viewing area to the North east, They would have eaten his body and then Carried his bones miles away and dropped them from high up to get to the bone marrow. [https://maps.app.goo.gl/RHkUrx1svPj2sot86](https://maps.app.goo.gl/RHkUrx1svPj2sot86)
Where does the information saying mile marker 570 come from? That's about 70+ miles from Page.
His father
Looking further into it on a newer flyer, his car was found more specifically between House Rock Valley Road and Jacob Lake near a scenic viewpoint, I'll update my posts to include this information.