Four days of searching by foot—including K-9 officers, 4-wheelers, airplanes, and helicopters have failed to find a man missing near/or on Notch Peak in the House Range of western Millard County.
Leroy Buckley, 31, an Army drill instructor from Fort Leonard Wood, MO, has been missing since Wed., Sept. 9. He was last seen by his fellow BASE-jumper Kurt Gregory, 44, of Twin Falls, ID. The search for Buckley, which included the Notch Peak area and an area in the Conger Range, was called off Sunday night, Sept. 13. Buckley and Gregory came to Notch Peak to jump from the top of the southwest cliff and sail safely to the ground using glide suits and parachutes. Buckley has over 300 safe BASE-jumps and Gregory about half that many from similar locations.
“Gregory set off a personal distress beacon that resulted in a call to the Millard County Sheriff’s Office from the U.S. Air Force Rescue Center in Florida,” said Sheriff Robert Dekker. “We sent deputies and members of the Millard County Sheriff’s Posse to the GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates sent by the beacon. Gregory was eventually located and brought off of the mountain by a Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter. Buckley was not with Gregory at the time.
Gregory told Sheriff Dekker and other searchers of the course of events leading to the signal for help. Gregory said he and Buckley had come to Notch Peak on Tuesday. They surveyed the tall cliff on the southwest side of the mountain and determined to hike to the summit on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, Buckley and Gregory were at the mouth of Miller’s Canyon. Buckley sent an e-mail message via his PLB (Personal Locator [distress] Beacon) to his girl friend in Missouri. The pre-programmed message indicated he was OK at the time and gave his GPS location. The would-be jumpers parked Buckley’s vehicle near the Klondike Mine in Miller’s Canyon with Gregory’s car on the west side of Notch Peak for easy access back to Miller’s Canyon.
Gregory tried to persuade Buckley to hike up Sawtooth Canyon to the south for easier access to the cliff. Buckley, who was new to the area, said the GPS showed it was closer to go up Miller’s Canyon. Buckley prevailed and the two headed up Miller’s Canyon. The going got rougher as they ascended as there is no trail; only cross-country travel through the brush and boulders. About noon Gregory became visually separated from Buckley. Buckley had climbed a rock formation and according to Gregory said, “I found a trail.” This was the last time he had contact with Buckley. Gregory had tried to turn Buckley back at this point because he was exhausted and had depleted his water supply. Gregory climbed up the rock formation and saw what passed for a short trail before it ended. Buckley could not be seen and did not respond to Gregory’s calls.
Gregory said he then moved up the mountain to get out of the brush and trees where he set off his PLB. It was here he was picked up by the helicopter and the official search for Buckley was started.
Deputy Tony Pederson went up Miller’s Canyon on foot late in the afternoon and returned at dark. No trace of Buckley had been found on Wednesday night. The Sheriff’s Posse with other searchers turned out early on Thursday. The lower canyons were searched by 4-wheelers while hikers went up the canyons looking for Buckley. Single-wing aircraft scanned the side hills and helicopters hovered over the steep canyons. A Life Flight Helicopter as well as a Dept. of Public Safety helicopter participated. It was hoped that Buckley would be quickly found with medical aid readily available if it was needed. The area was searched using heat-detecting equipment in the DPS helicopter also.
Campers, hunters and people out on their 4-wheelers in the area were questioned about possible sightings of Buckley. No trace of the missing man showed up.
On Friday, after Sheriff Dekker had been able to contact Buckley’s girl friend, the search continued and later shifted to another location. GPS coordinates sent to the woman indicated an origin miles to the west in the Conger Range. The coordinates matched another base-jumping site located there. Late in the evening, an antelope hunter from Enoch said he had met a hiker who somewhat fit the description of Buckley at about 5 p.m.
“I learned a long time ago to follow the evidence. The messages sent by Buckley gave GPS coordinates saying we should be searching here,” said Sheriff Dekker.
Posse members patrolled the canyons near Skunk Spring sighting a person on the ridge between Ledger and Cattleman’s Canyon just as darkness closed in. That man did not respond to a hail from the posse, but slipped over the ridge out of sight instead.
Saturday morning the search in the Congers continued with the aid of two military helicopters. Sheriff Dekker deployed two deputies with dogs to the place the hiker had been seen the night before and instructed the helicopter pilots to scour the area as well as search the Notch Peak area again.
After hundreds of man-hours donated by the Sheriff’s Posse, Millard County Sheriff’s Deputies, military personnel and private individuals the result was the same. Buckley was still missing come Saturday night. Each day of the search members of the Posse showed up to help find the missing man. They willingly gave their time and resources to deliver the missing man from harm while hoping to deliver his friends and family from fear and anguish.
Gregory left the area Saturday to replenish his supplies and recruit help to search Miller’s Canyon on Sunday.
Ten men were taken to the top of Notch Peak on Sunday morning by the military Apache helicopters. The searchers went to the edge of the cliff where they found footprints believed to belong to Buckley.
“They found some footprints up at the top that go to the edge. The Posse didn’t see any place that those footprints were coming down,” said Sheriff Dekker. “We are wondering if he didn’t send the second message to his girlfriend and then jumped from the cliff right after.”
After a thorough search of the area near the top of Notch Peak, the ten men were split into two teams of five. One team came down Miller’s Canyon and the other descended through Sawtooth Canyon.
“Coming down those two canyons on foot, searching every nook and draw is an amazing fete in itself,” said Sheriff Dekker. “We shifted the search back to these two canyons because the PLB signal could have been faulty. Measurements from the mouth of Miller’s Canyon to Notch Peak showed that the PLB signal could have had incorrect coordinates.” Again, there was no sign of Buckley or his equipment at the end of the search.
The winds on Sunday made it difficult to search from the air. The military helicopters had to fly low to avoid trouble near cliffs and canyon walls. The weather turned bad in the west desert on Monday.
“The organized search has been discontinued. However, volunteers from the community and the BASE-jumping community are continuing the search,” Sheriff Dekker said Monday morning. “I am satisfied we have covered the area the best we could, and we will continue the organized search as resources become available.”