This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Before Robin Putnam stepped off an Amtrak train in Salt Lake City and seemingly disappeared, his California landlady witnessed the young artist having what she called a "psychotic break."
Cindy Putnam, the missing 25-year-old's mother, said the landlady recently told her family about her son's deteriorating mental state before he boarded a train headed to family in Colorado.
Robin Putnam's family is still searching for the man who has been missing since July 8. The art student was attending college in the Bay Area, and was traveling by train from Oakland, Calif., to Grand Junction, Colo. His family believes he got off the train in Salt Lake City, 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 began suffering from panic attacks that forced him to quit his job at a Berkeley coffee shop and head for home, his mother 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.
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.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.