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Search and rescue crews resumed their efforts Wednesday to find a man missing for two days in the rugged, snowy mountains of southern Utah's Iron County.
Iron County Sheriff's Lt. Del Schlosser said searchers, joined by civilian volunteers, headed into an area roughly between Parowan and Minersville, where wintry weather had forced them out late Tuesday.
They returned Wednesday morning with five aircraft, four search dogs, six horses and searchers from three different agencies to look for Daniel Michael Brown. They've combed about 75 square miles from where the 34-year-old man's van was stuck, but they "have been unable to locate any tracks due to the weather from the last two days," according to a news release. "We were hopeful today, with the clear weather and sunny skies, we would be able to locate Daniel in the area," the sheriff's office said in a statement Wednesday. But when the search resumes by ground and air Thursday, they "will be scaling back [the] search … as this may be changing from a search to a recovery."
Schlosser said Brown and his family were driving along a mountain road Monday afternoon when their van got stuck near Kane Springs. While his wife stayed with their four children, Brown, clad only in a T-shirt and blue jeans, walked out in hopes of finding help.
Temperatures in the area dipped to near freezing as snowstorms moved into the region late Monday and early Tuesday morning, when Brown's wife called 911.
"The vehicle was not running and the family was cold but in good health. Deputies were able to get the wife and children out of the area and back to the Cedar City area," Schlosser said.
Searchers from the sheriff's office, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have been looking in the remote, rugged high desert area since. Of special interest to searchers was an area about 2 miles west of State Route 130, heading toward Minersville.
Schlosser said that Brown, of Cedar City, recently had lost his job and had been living with his family in the van. They reportedly were looking for a campsite when the vehicle became stuck.
Brown is described as a 6-foot-3, 250-pound man with brown hair and green eyes.
Anyone who has information on Brown's whereabouts is asked to call Iron County dispatchers at 435-867-7550, their local law enforcement agency, or 911.
— Reporter Michael McFall contributed to this story.
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