Help Find Kenneth Johnson Missing Since June 21, 2015 in Monticello Utah Area
Kanab man is missing after visiting archeological sites
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Kenneth Johnson followed his passion for petroglyphs to the rural corners of San Juan County, looking for the old Native American markings.
But on Sunday, he went missing. Searchers from eight agencies combed the vast southeastern desert for Johnson, trying to retrace his steps to the rock art sites and flying a plane across the “massive” county looking for him or his dark blue Jeep Liberty, said sheriff’s office Sgt. Joe Harris.
“Our county is massive. There’s so much of it that is just so difficult to even get to,” Harris said. After several fruitless days, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office asked on Thursday morning that anyone with information about Johnson’s whereabouts to call them at 435-587-2237.
He hasn’t used his credit card since Sunday morning; his last known location was Monticello. Verizon has tried to ping Johnson’s cell, to no avail.
Though the 69-year-old lives in Kanab with his wife, the sheriff’s office doesn’t believe he is a stranger to the area. He and his wife have driven to San Juan County to view petroglyphs before.
“It sounds like he did a lot of research on all the sites,” Harris said. But there are “literally hundreds” of petroglyphs scattered throughout San Juan County and its neighbors, Harris said.
“There are some areas up around Moab, some that are popular with tourists ... but his wife indicated that he would rather go to remote sites that had few people than bigger, popular sites where there would be a lot of people,” Harris said. “… We’ve used a lot of resources and a lot of man hours [to search] massive, massive amounts of square miles.”
Johnson did have a hand-held GPS with him, as well as camping gear and food. If the retired Marine is injured or stranded, Harris figures he would have enough to survive for almost two weeks.
“Because of the trip and his last know whereabouts, we tentatively think he may be in the northern part of the county … or southern Grand County,” Harris said. He may possibly be in the western side of Colorado, too, the sergeant added.
Johnson is described as 5-foot-10, about 185 pounds, with brown eyes and gray hair, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
He was driving a dark blue 2006 Jeep Liberty with a roof rack and a long, narrow carrier compartment, according to the sheriff’s office. Its UTAH license plate is X042LM.
