Missing Glenwood Springs woman

[Iceaxe]

When I did that loop I made it counterclockwise, up Little Wild Horse and down Bell. Navigation was never an issue going that way,

The problem with the LWH/Bell Loop.... is folks think they are doing it counterclockwise, but they miss the turn into LWH. And once they exit out the back of the reef onto the road they turn west, towards Ding/Dang...

They hike west along the road and can't find a canyon to descend back to the car.... getting lost eats up time and the day light hours so fast it's amazing, I know, I've been lost....

[erial]

Updated: 11/28/2008 03:29:33 PM MST


Rose Backhaus (New Castle Sheriff's Department)Related
Missing hiker Rose Backhaus
Nov 27:Search dogs fail to turn up hiker
Nov 26:Dogs aid search for missing Colo. hiker
Missing hiker left trip notes in car


Utah authorities searching for New Castle hiker Rose Backhaus issued a plea today asking people who ventured into the backcountry at Utah's Goblin Valley State Park between Nov. 16 and Monday to contact them.

Emery County, Utah, Sheriff Lamar Guymon said that according to the register at the park, the majority of those who hiked the rugged, canyon-filled park were from Colorado.

He said he would like people who were using the park then to contact the Emery County Sheriff's Department at 435-381-2404.

Specifically, Guymon is asking people who may have seen Backhaus hiking the canyons or saw her maroon 2004 Explorer parked at the Little Wild Horse Canyon parking lot

[JP]

Cell phone in the car, boy does that suck. I hope all is well with her

[ExpUt]

Lots of folks down that way this weekend, any update by chance?

[James_B_Wads2000]

I did a quick google search and it looks like they are still looking for her and asking for anyone in that area over that weekend to contact the authorities.

IMO two weeks is plenty of time to check the obvious main routes. Meaning it is most likely she didn

[JP]

[quote=James_B_Wads2000]PS Hey JP that whole area is a cell phone dead zone especially in the canyons or near the cliffs. So if she had had her phone it most likely wouldn

[RedMan]

I saw a poster if her in the Rifle rest stop so they are looking other places as well.

[DWayne27]

I was there this weekend. There were signs all over the overlook at Goblin Valley, and we saw a NPS helicopoter and a big Emery County Sheriff RV with satellites and everything. Seems like the search continues. My bet was getting lost after exiting LWH as well. It definitely isnt looking good

[R]

See, this is what makes my wife so nervous about me hiking alone. We all think we have survival and navigation skills, but we are all just one rockslide, turned ankle, unforcast cold front or mismarked map from serious trouble. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it; I'm saying that we all should remember to respect the wild even when all seems well.

[Last Child]

See, this is what makes my wife so nervous about me hiking alone. We all think we have survival and navigation skills, but we are all just one rockslide, turned ankle, unforcast cold front or mismarked map from serious trouble. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it; I'm saying that we all should remember to respect the wild even when all seems well.

Yep! Things like this is exactly why I bought one of those SPOT gps gadgets. I do a lot of hiking, biking, fishing, skiing, etc. alone and this unit has brought a ton of piece of mind to my wife. Anyone who ventures out alone should have one. They are fairly inexpensive and cost $100 a year for a subscription. Pretty cheap piece of mind and who knows it may just save your life.

Food for thought.

[oldno7]

I also have and use a spot. They get back to your contacts in minutes telling them all is well. Nice in remote areas. I've used mine in Northwash/poison springs, and the swell out there. $150 is the difference between life and death.

[BruteForce]

I also have and use a spot. They get back to your contacts in minutes telling them all is well. Nice in remote areas. I've used mine in Northwash/poison springs, and the swell out there. $150 is the difference between life and death.

I don't go anywhere remote without mine. When I dismount a machine, I attach it to my body.

[JP]

Food for thought.

Sure is

[erial]

December 2, 2008

Missing hiker in Little Wild Horse

The Emery County Sheriff's Office has been involved in a search for a missing Colorado woman. Grand County Sheriff enlisted the help of Emery County officials when it became apparent the missing woman wasn't in Grand or San Juan counties.

A call came into Grand County on Nov. 17 when the missing woman, 54 year old Rose Backhaus did not appear for work on Nov. 17.

The last known record of Backhaus was when she checked out of the LaQuinta Inn in Moab on Nov. 16.

Emery County officials located her car at the Little Wild Horse trailhead on Nov. 24 by 4 p.m. Grand County had spent the previous week searching in Grand and San Juan counties because family members believed Backhaus to be in those counties hiking.

Emery County Sheriff's Office deputies and Emery County Search and Rescue posse combed the area on Nov. 24-Dec. 1 and they have still not located the missing woman. Eighteen search and rescue posse members along with the Utah Highway Patrol helicopter have been combing the area.

She is from New Castle, Colo. Cell phone records show that Backhaus checked her cell phone messages on Sunday and that is the last known contact with Backhaus. Cell phone records are being checked to see if there was any contact past Nov. 16.

Backhaus was due to return to work on Nov. 17.

The search has continued throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and the Emery County Sheriff's Office with the assistance of the state parks, adult probation and parole, and the Emery County Sheriff's Posse search and Rescue, Department of Public Safety helicopter with pilot Terry Mercer and the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue dogs have searched the area by air and by ground, ATVs have also combed the area.

The search has spanned from Goblin Valley, through the San Rafael Reef and to the Muddy River with no results or additional clues to the whereabouts of Backhaus. Backhaus is described as 5'2", 135-150 pounds, wears glasses and was wearing hiking pants and a lime green fleece jacket at the time of her disappearance.

She arrived at the Little Wild Horse trail head around 10 a.m. and her vehicle has been there ever since. It is a 2004 maroon Ford Explorer with a bike rack on the back. The Emery County Sheriff's Office is requesting that anyone who was in the area from the morning of Nov. 16-24 and has any knowledge to the location of Backhaus should contact the sheriff's office at 435-381-2404.

Emery County Sheriff LaMar Guymon said, "We have searched by ground, air, 4-wheelers and on foot every slot canyon and have moved west of the Reef and are in the process of working towards Mackay Flat on foot. The area has been searched thoroughly by air. We have had approximately 20 search and rescue personnel and deputies in the area each day since the call came in that Backhaus was missing. At this point we are looking at every possiblity and pursuing every lead. There is an eye witness that saw Backhaus enter the canyon that Sunday morning. From that point on no one has seen her. We are scaling back our efforts, but will continue to search as we are able to find manpower. Liablility issues have become a problem and we can only be responsible for our trained search and rescue workers. Volunteers can search in the area on their own, but they do not answer to us and are not our responsiblity. When the search first started we searched all the pot holes in Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyon. Since that time it has rained and filled the pot holes and we have had our rappeling crew search all the pot holes again. The upper end of Little Wild Horse is not well marked and beyond that you can become easily confused you could go south or northeast and you could end up on Mackay Flat or Hidden Splendor, or if you go the other way, eventually you'll run into the freeway. We are just working to eliminate areas one step at a time. Scent dogs are just good within a few hours of a disappearance. But, the tracking dogs will find any person in the area, either alive or deceased. These dogs are trained to find people. We will continue to do what we can to find Backhaus," said Sheriff Guymon.
__________________

[erial]

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http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_11123779

Sheriff to take found items to home of missing hiker

Updated: 12/02/2008 09:09:52 PM MST

Three things Utah authorities found during their week-long search for missing New Castle hiker Rose Backhaus will be brought to Colorado on Thursday to see whether relatives and friends can identify them as belonging to Backhaus.

Lamar Guymon, sheriff for Emery County, Utah, said he will travel to New Castle, west of Glenwood Springs, on Thursday with a glove, a ChapStick and a picture of a footprint possibly left by Backhaus, who was last seen in Moab on Nov. 16.

Guymon said he will interview Backhaus' relatives and friends.

Her car was found Nov. 24 in the Little Wild Horse Canyon parking lot near Goblin Valley State Park in eastern Utah.

Planes, helicopters, dogs and dozens of people from various Utah agencies and volunteers have searched for her.

Guymon said Tuesday that a man and his nephew from Salt Lake City said they saw Backhaus head toward the Little Wild Horse Canyon trailhead in hiking gear.

The sheriff said searchers have looked for Backhaus in a huge area

[JP]

Very sad.

[abirken]

A fellow boyscout mom said that Rose (the missing woman) normally buys a wreath from our troop every year for our annual scout fundraiser. And this year is just so sad because she's not around to buy or deliver one too. From what I've heard in our community, she's a very generous and highly loved woman. I know so many people that are friends with her and everyone is very sad about her disappearance.

[erial]

Search for Rose Backhaus focused on 2 Utah canyons

http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content...ing_woman.html


By DENNIS WEBB

Friday, December 05, 2008

Armed with new clues on what she may have been wearing, searchers Friday resumed their efforts along a popular Utah trail where a New Castle woman disappeared Nov. 16.

Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon said four searchers began a slow, methodical retracing of Little Wild Horse and Bell canyons in search of Rose Backhaus, 54. After taking a day off Thursday to regroup, searchers resumed their focus on two canyons that they have scoured on the ground and from the air, and with the help of dogs and rappelling teams, since Nov. 24.

That

[JP]

[quote=erial]They also haven

[erial]

Emery County sheriff: Long search is unusual

Monday, December 08, 2008

Sheriff Lamar Guymon is used to people getting lost in Emery County, Utah, a landscape of narrow slot canyons, vast deserts, and on its eastern edge, the Green River.

He