CONEJOS COUNTY, Colo. — The search continues for a missing 64-year-old man in Conejos County who disappeared one month ago.
Rodney Guilinger was reported missing on April 16 by his wife. He has a cognitive impairment and requires daily medication.
His wife told Conejos County Sheriff's Office deputies that Guilinger had dropped her off at her work place in Fort Garland around 7:30 a.m. on April 16 before he headed out to scout potential hunting areas between La Jara and the New Mexico border, according to an update from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). She told deputies that he had intentions of returning between 5 and 6 p.m. that evening.
She reported him missing around 7:40 p.m. and a Be On the Lookout alert was issued for Guilinger and his silver 2021 Dodge Ram. The truck was found the following day stuck on Forest Service Road 380 in Conejos County, CBI said.
Investigators found no sign of him along the Forest Service road. Calls to his cell phone went directly to voicemail.
Multiple agencies and groups have helped search for Guilinger over the past month, including:
- Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office and tracking dogs
- Air support from Flight for Life
- Rio Grande Sheriff’s Office
- Mineral County Search and Rescue
- U.S. Forest Service (includes using snowmobiles to check higher elevations)
- Various search and rescue teams
- Members of the Bloodhound Man Trackers
- Springfield Police Department
- Montrose County Sheriff’s Office
- Colorado Department of Fire Prevention and Control
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Costilla County Sheriff’s Office
- Air Guard
Poor weather, including heavy snowfall and strong wind, impeded some of the search efforts.
On April 22 and 23, two K-9s individually tracked Guilinger's scent to a pond near a cabin. Nothing was visible on the surface and a few days later, when an underwater drone arrived, the search also came up empty, CBI said.
Anybody with information about Guilinger's whereabouts is asked to call 911 or the Conejos County Sheriff’s Office at 719-589-5807.
"We are dedicating every available resource and working tirelessly with our partners to locate Rodney Guilinger," said Conejos County Sheriff Garth Crowther. "We understand the urgency of this situation, and are making every reasonable effort to find him.”
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