This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The remains of a man who went missing in Salt Lake City three years ago have turned up in remote Nevada.
Robin Putnam was 25 when, his family and police believe, he vanished in Salt Lake City while taking a train from California to Colorado. On a Facebook page dedicated to the search for him, Putnam's family announced "with a broken heart" on Friday that "authorities have informed us that Robin's remains have been found in a remote area of eastern Nevada."
"After a railroad worker doing maintenance reported seeing a skull, Putnam's body was discovered next to the railroad tracks by Tobar south of Wells," the Elko Daily Free Press reported. "Before the body was identified, Morris said Putnam's debit card was found nearby."
Elko County Undersheriff Clair Morris confirmed to the Elko Daily Free Press that the body was Putnam's on Tuesday. Investigators have sent a DNA sample and his dental records for positive identification, the newspaper reported.
On July 8, 2012, Putnam boarded a train from Emeryville, Calif., bound for Grand Junction, Colo. His parents would be waiting for him there to take him back home to Telluride. When the train arrived, Putnam's wallet, laptop and journal were on board, but not the man.
Police and Putnam's parents, Doug and Cindy, believe the 25-year-old stepped off the train during a 3 a.m. stop in Salt Lake City and never got back on.
Nevada investigators have yet to determine how Putnam died, according to his family.
After he disappeared, Doug and Cindy Putnam largely put their businesses on hold to look for him, living out of suitcases and Salt Lake hotel rooms. Their search took them to homeless shelters, parks, abandoned buildings, bars, libraries and underpasses as they follow up on every tip, text message and phone call they received. They plastered the Salt Lake Valley with fliers and took out near-daily advertisements in newspapers.
But after the number of tips declined, and without new leads to follow, the Putnams returned home to Telluride without their son.
Cindy Putnam has maintained the Facebook page since a few months after her son vanished. Long after media turned their attention elsewhere, Cindy Putnam reminded more than 2,900 people who are subscribed to the page with online posts.
She couldn't concentrate on reading novels, but the social media outreach gives her something to do.
Now, she's planning his memorial service. The family has set a date for Sept. 18 in Telluride.
Twitter: @MikeyPanda