RSSMen’s cellphone data narrowed to Price area
An air search of rugged country in eastern Utah on Friday turned up no sign of two missing pipeline workers from Grand Junction, but authorities late in the evening offered family members the first sliver of hope of finding them.
Meanwhile, a large outpouring of support for Brian Axe and Mark Widegren is bolstering those closest to the men.
A helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft began a grid search of the nearly 1,500-square-mile Carbon County and returned at sunset without any clues on the whereabouts of Axe and Widegren, both 28, or the gold 2000 Grand Jeep Cherokee they were driving, Carbon County sheriff’s deputy Wally Hendricks said.
The two friends and Palisade High School graduates were last seen leaving the Silver Dollar Sports Club in Price late on the night of Jan. 28. The men had been laying pipe in Nine Mile Canyon northeast of Price and living in a man camp in the canyon. Their cellphones and credit cards haven’t been used since the night they disappeared.
However, a late Friday-evening post to a Facebook page created in connection to the search indicated an analysis of cellphone data has revealed both phones last communicated with a tower that targets a specific swath of land that includes the town of Price.
Media coverage has begun generating a few tips from citizens who believe they saw men who look similar to Axe and Widegren or a vehicle similar to their Jeep, Hendricks said. In addition, area chambers of commerce are asking businesses to check surveillance videos.
“Those (leads) are starting to come in, and we’re enthused about that,” Hendricks said.
Other than small teams of deputies checking specific areas, Hendricks said authorities haven’t lined up a massive ground search because they aren’t sure yet where to begin such an effort. The Abby and Jennifer Recovery Foundation, which coordinates searches for missing persons, responded to Price on Thursday to work with family members and friends of Axe and Widegren, but the Sheriff’s Department has asked others to stay put.
“We don’t need more manpower yet,” Hendricks said Friday afternoon.
Volunteer searchers went out on their own, however, and caravans of people traveled from Grand Junction and elsewhere in the region to Price on Friday to offer boots-on-the-ground assistance, organizational support, food and supplies. A Paypal account connected to the Facebook group had generated more than $1,300 in donations by Friday evening.
Brian Axe’s wife, Kristine, said that kind of generosity and assistance “refreshes us a little bit and gives us some hope.”
“It’s what we have right now, and it’s what we have to go on, and it’s an amazing feeling for all of us,” she said.
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