ELKO – The FBI is now involved in the search for a Utah man who visited an Elko County town shortly before he went missing at the end of May.
Meanwhile, national media including Fox News have been reporting on the disappearance of Dylan Rounds, 19, of Lucin.
East Idaho News in Idaho Falls reported on Wednesday that the FBI had confirmed its involvement, saying the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office in Utah is still the lead investigator in the case.
“Box Elder County volunteer teams have logged over 300 hours searching, covering over 3,000 miles,” the sheriff’s office said in a June 15 statement. “Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office Detectives and Deputies have also been searching around the clock, weekdays and weekends. So far, detectives have spent over 650 hours investigating this case.”
“If somebody is involved with Dylan’s disappearance, they need to know we’re not going to go away,” Chief Deputy Cade Palmer, of the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office, told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “If this takes months, if it takes years, we’ll keep knocking on doors.”
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The Elko County Sheriff’s Office has also been involved but asks anyone with information to contact Box Elder officials at 435-734-3800.
Fox News legal commentator and television journalist Nancy Grace has interviewed Rounds’ mother on her program. Jim Terry, a private investigator who has worked on many missing persons cases nationwide, says he has been retained by some of Rounds’ family members. He has spoken publicly about the case on the Tyler Feller YouTube channel.
East Idaho News reported that Rounds “had been farming in the desert town of Lucin, Utah during summer months over the past few years. His grandmother last spoke with him on May 28 and nobody has heard from him since then. There has been no sign of Rounds anywhere and no activity on his cell phone or bank account, according to his parents.”
Rounds reportedly told his grandmother in a phone call early on the morning of May 28 that he needed to move his grain truck out of the rain. A later search located his boots behind a pile of dirt about 300 yards from his grain truck.
Fox News reported that the search by law enforcement officers has included K-9s, drones and on horseback.
“The surrounding area on the Utah and Nevada border is full of old mineshafts, caves and tunnels, and Rounds’ mother Candice Cooley said a professional cave diver had volunteered to help search some of those spaces,” Fox reported.
Dylan’s parents have offered a $20,000 reward for Dylan’s return, but they are not asking for financial assistance. They told Fox that there are a number of false rumors and fake fundraisers circulating on social media.
Rounds was last seen at a cafe in Montello, Nevada, on May 26, where he ate before returning to Utah. The Elko County Sheriff’s Office was first notified of the case on May 31, when deputies responded to Montello on a call that someone was being held hostage.
“Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to Montello and searched a residence with the consent of the owner,” said a statement from ECSO. “At that time, we reached out to Box Elder County and offered our assistance. We have been diligently working with the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office and providing them resources they have requested. We have also escorted their detectives into Nevada where they have conducted interviews with people that may be associated with Dylan’s case.”
The missing person case began one week after the Elko sheriff’s office announced it had suspended the search for another missing 19-year-old.
Aidan Clune of Sonoma County is known to have traveled from California to Utah on April 26. He then drove back to Nevada and stayed the night in Wells, checking out of a hotel room at approximately 6:23 a.m. April 27. He traveled south on U.S. Highway 93 and parked his pickup truck on the shoulder near mile marker 23. At approximately 8:50 a.m. on April 27 a Nevada State Police trooper found the vehicle abandoned.
The Sheriff’s Office was notified of the situation on April 28, and began a search for Aidan. His tracks were located leaving the area where the pickup was abandoned, and he was tracked for more than 10 air miles.
“During the tracking process Aidan was taking off his shoes and running part of the time. He would remove his shoes and walk across roads barefoot,” stated the sheriff’s office. “There were no additional tracks near Aidan’s footprints, thus indicating he was alone as he walked. Aidan left the vehicle with no additional clothing or survival gear that would indicate that he was pleasure hiking.”
The investigation has revealed that Clune did not have any warrants or other criminal activity that would have caused him to run from authorities.
“It is our belief that Aidan was suffering from a mental episode that caused him to not only leave his vehicle, but that he made very intentional efforts to not be found,” the sheriff’s office said.
His tracks were eventually eroded by rain and snow. The tracks were lost in the Cherry Creek Mountains several miles west of the highway.
“We will continue the investigation into his disappearance until the case is solved,” the sheriff’s office said on May 24.
Clune’s mother has been raising money for a reward. The gofundme account had topped $10,000 as of this week.
“If somebody is involved with Dylan’s disappearance, they need to know we’re not going to go away.”
— Chief Deputy Cade Palmer, Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office