This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Doug Putnam drove east, away from Salt Lake City on Wednesday morning, sleep deprived and worried.
The tug of reality pulled him back to Colorado; the landscaping business he owns and supports his family with does not run without him.
But he was still missing the thing he came looking for: his son.
"I've reached a point where I don't know what else to do," Putnam said.
Robin Putnam has been missing since July 8. The 25-year-old art student was traveling by train from Oakland, Calif., to Grand Junction, Colo., when his family believes he stepped off an Amtrak train in Salt Lake City about 3 a.m. and never got back on.
His wallet and identification were left on the train and ended up in Chicago. His laptop and journal, where the art student sketched and wrote of his life, were on the train when it arrived in Grand Junction.
"I know he would have never left those belongings on there," Doug Putnam said. "An artist would never leave his journal behind. He's been working on a story in there for a long, long time. He just would never give that up."
Robin Putnam was attending school in the Bay Area when he began suffering from panic attacks that forced him to quit his job at a Berkeley coffee shop and head for home, his mother, Cindy Putnam said.
As he has begun searching for his son, Doug Putnam has learned that Robin had not slept for several days before he boarded the train for Colorado. He wasn't eating well. He'd been having nightmares and "when he got up from [a nightmare] it, he couldn't distinguish between the dream state and the waking state," his father said.
"If I had heard all these things, I wouldn't have let him get on the train by himself," Doug Putnam said.
A passenger on the train told the Putnams that she sat next to the missing man, that he politely asked for the window seat and that he shared some of his drawings with her during the ride.
The Putnams believe their son may have stepped off the train during a stopover in Salt Lake City and become disoriented. He may have left with a woman.
"I think he just lost himself," his father said.
Since July 9, Doug Putnam has been in Salt Lake City, searching for his son.
Fliers taped to light poles around the city depict a man with clear blue eyes and shaggy blond hair. The hair may be slightly longer now and he could be wearing his glasses, his mother said.
At 6-foot-1, he probably about 140 pounds, she said.
Doug Putnam has suffered ups and downs as he and Salt Lake Police detectives have tracked down leads. He met a man outside the downtown library who knew Robin's name when his father described him. The man has been reportedly seen at the Volunteers of America office and at a Salt Lake City lighting store asking how he might obtain an ID.
"There have been some tips," Cindy Putnam said. "We feel like we're getting closer to finding him and getting him the help he needs."
Anyone knowing anything about Robin Putnam's whereabouts is asked to call 801-799-3000. Anonymous tips can be sent by text message to CRIMES (274637). Police ask that texters start the message with TIPSLCPD and reference case #12-119999.
Doug Putnam said he does not believe his son has been harmed.
"I'm trusting that he shows up," he said. "But we have no idea what's going on."