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ESCALANTE, Garfield County — A man was found dead in Kane County on Sunday morning after his family reported him missing the night before.
The family of Roger Stricklett, an 80-year-old man from Phoenix, reached out to Garfield County officials on Saturday and said they had been tracking his phone's location and its last location was on Hole in the Rock Road. Garfield County deputies contacted Kane Counties at about 6:10 p.m. to report they had found Stricklett's truck in Kane County, two miles south of the Dry Fork turnoff.
Stricklett's truck was still running and unlocked, with his phone and other belongings inside, as well as "an older dog" that had died, according to a Kane County Sheriff's Office statement.
A Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter searched the area until dark, and 13 Kane County search and rescue personnel and search dogs searched through the night after a storm covered any potential footprints around Stricklett's truck.
Eventually they were able to find a set of tracks that they followed for several hours before locating Stricklett, who was dead, around 3:45 a.m. Sunday.
"Searchers estimate that Roger had walked almost 10 miles even though he was located only about 3 miles from his truck," the statement said.
Stricklett's body was transported to the state medical examiner's office in Salt Lake City for investigation.
