A man went missing in Mesa Verde National Park last week, according to a missing person alert from the Colorado Bureau Investigation.
Thomas Irwin, 73, was last seen in the park wearing a gray fleece jacket, blue jeans and tan hiking boots at around 1 p.m. Jan. 15. Law enforcement has recovered his vehicle in the park.
According to the release, Irwin suffers from a cognitive impairment that may cause him to be easily confused. This condition requires him to take medication he may be without.
Montezuma County spokeswoman Vicki Schaffer told The Durango Herald on Monday that the National Park Service was conducting its own search and rescue mission with help from K-9 Search and Rescue out of Dolores.
“Montezuma County Search and Rescue is not involved at this point,” Schaffer said. “They were put on standby for a day last week. But then the majority determined that they did not need ground teams at that point.”
Mesa Verde National Park Chief of Interpretation & Visitor Services Kristy Sholly told the Herald on Tuesday that search and rescue teams were searching all over the park.
“We’ve had lots of air efforts by fixed wing, helicopter and we brought in a specialized dog team,” she said. “There just haven’t been a lot of leads.“
Sholly said rescue teams believe that Irwin was in the area of Petroglyph Point Trail because his phone was found in the area and had been turned in to the visitors center.
“We believe that he completed that hike, and we’re not sure what happened after that,” she said. “So we don’t think he necessarily got lost during that hike.”
She added there was nothing out of the ordinary about Irwin’s car when law enforcement found it. The car was left in the park overnight, which is against policy at Mesa Verde, sparking suspicion that the man was missing.
Most of the search efforts so far have been along Chapin Mesa in the main areas of the park. Sholly also said that there have been multiple helicopter flyovers in the park’s canyons.
She said the search will continue and that the park service search teams are hopeful.
Anyone with information about Irwin or his whereabouts is asked to call 911.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
