LOCAL NEWS

Search crews find pants, wallet, ID during search for missing couple in Grand County

Jun 26, 2024, 6:13 PM | Updated: 6:43 pm

MOAB — Search crews looking for a missing Texas couple east of Moab discovered a pair of pants containing the man’s wallet and ID, officials said Wednesday.

Family members said Ray and Maranda Ankofski, ages 58 and 50, were last heard from Friday afternoon while exploring the Steel Bender Trail.

According to Grand County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Mike Palmer, dispatch originally received a report about a man and woman in the area of the trail when a flash flood began Friday.

Though an initial aerial search turned up nothing, Palmer said searchers returned Monday with the report of an abandoned vehicle at the trailhead. Crews also discovered a UTV near the trail that belonged to the Ankofski family.

Palmer said searchers were “pretty sure” the couple had been caught in the flood waters Friday.

“It looks as if they went to cross it (and the) flood was already there. They got into it and it probably tumbled that UTV down the wash I’m going to say three-quarters of a mile before it stopped,” Palmer said.

Ray and Maranda Ankofski, ages 58 and 50, were last heard from early afternoon on Friday, June 21, 2024. They were setting out on the Steel Bender trail, family members said. (Ashlynn Ankofski)

On Wednesday, Crews were combing two separate areas of 28 acres and 18 acres, respectively, that were connected to the locations of the UTV and Ray Ankofski’s pants.

Palmer said the search of the broader area had been challenging due to conditions left behind by the recent flash flood.

“What you get is all this debris coming and this debris will stack up. (Then) you’ve got silt and sand and they call them ‘strainers,’” Palmer said. “So you’ll have all these trees and they’ll kind of strain the water, and then you’ve got two, three, or four tons of debris on top of certain piles and there’s probably 100 (to) 150 of those piles down there in that canyon.”

Searchers from other jurisdictions were assisting Wednesday, including those from San Juan County, Washington County, Utah County, Cache County; Mesa County, Colorado; as well as the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation and the National Park Service.

According to Palmer, crews had already worked approximately 1,000 combined man-hours trying to locate the couple.

Palmer said the operation may downsize as early as Thursday, but the Grand County Sheriff’s Office would continue to work to find the couple.

“We won’t stop looking for them,” Palmer pledged. “There is always hope until there isn’t.”

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Search crews find pants, wallet, ID during search for missing couple in Grand County