Man missing for nearly 10 days found dead Saturday in Uintah County

PAYSON — Deputies with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office say a 44-year-old man who has been missing for nearly 10 days was found dead Saturday morning.

According to a news release from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Blayne K. Parkin was last seen on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the Payson area. His vehicle was located the next day near Roosevelt in Uintah County. 

According to a news release from the Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, Parkin was found in a remote area of Uintah County.

On Sept. 14, deputies had received information that he may have been at an oil field location in Uintah County. After a camper shell, that emergency personnel said belonged to Parkin, was found in the area, search and rescue teams were activated. 

On Sept. 18, his vehicle was located roughly 45 miles away from the camper shell in a remote area of Uintah County near the Utah-Colorado border. Deputies said Parkin was found roughly 1.25 miles from his vehicle.

Family reacts

On Saturday afternoon, the Parkin family issued the following statement:

“On behalf of Blayne’s family, we are extremely grateful for you, your faith, your prayers we believe that is what has created all the miracles and brought us all together. We love you. We would like give a special thanks to Sgt. Sam Sorenson and Detective Brinton and their respective teams.

“We would like to thank Utah County Sheriff for the amazing job they are doing and the professional manner in which they are doing it. We would also like to thank Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, Uintah County Search and Rescue, the Utah Highway Patrol, Payson Police, the Civil Air Patrol, all the other officers of the law (who) have been working to find Blayne please thank them when you see them.”

On Saturday evening, Jeremy Parkin, older brother of Blayne Parkin spoke to KSL TV.

“We were, two peas in a pod, I would say,” he said. “We do a lot of the same things together. (And) We like big trucks and digging in the dirt, and we love our kids and our families. …”If he ever got in trouble, he always called his mom, and he never did this time. And it was way out of character for him to be up there.”

Blayne Parkin leaves behind three children ages 4, 13, and 15.

“Our biological dad, mine and Blayne’s, he died when Blayne was 15,” Jeremy Parkin said. “And I mean, I can totally relate to these boys and kind of help them but they’re broken. They’re just so sad that their dad’s gone.”

Jeremy Parkin said he’s grateful for the work law enforcement both in Utah and Uintah counties played in looking for Blayne Parkin.

“My wife and I, we have two sons that are police officers, and we just love police officers,” he said. “We think that, that they carry a heavy load and we’re so grateful for the effort that they put into finding him because they did it and they worked hard and in nonstop and they communicated very well with us.”

‘Love in his heart’

Jeremy Parkin said his brother Blayne Parkin had a lot of love in his heart and always did what he could to help others.

“(Blayne and I) had a saying together. Actually in his truck on his dash, I gave him a sticker, and the saying is whatever it takes,” Jeremy Parkin said. “Whatever it took for family, whatever it took for each other…and that was our motto.”

Jeremy Parkin said he will remember Blayne Parkin for giving his all, no matter what.

“I knew that Blayne was loved, but I didn’t know how many people just absolutely loved him,” he said.

The investigation into what happened is still ongoing. However, deputies said there doesn’t appear to be any suspicious activity.

Parkin will be transported to the Office of the Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death.

This is a developing story and may be updated.