ST. GEORGE – Late Thursday afternoon, Las Vegas police found the truck belonging to a 74-year-old Cedar City man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease who has been missing since Saturday.
Cedar City Police Detective Tim Bonzo said the 1996 green Ford Ranger truck belonging to Raymond Shurtz was found just south of Mesquite in the Valley of Fire area.
Search and rescue teams from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and members of the Moapa tribal police conducted an air and land search for the man until darkness fell Thursday night. They planned to continue the search early this morning. Bonzo said witnesses believe they saw Shurtz in his truck in the Valley of Fire on Monday.
Shurtz told his sister, whom he lives with, that he was going to Escalante to see his children on Saturday.
However, Cedar City Police Detective Mike Bleak said Shurtz’ children actually live in Arizona.
“There are two things,” Bonzo said. “It’s better (being in the Valley of Fire area) than being lost in the Boulder Mountains because it’s warmer and flat, and there’s a good chance somebody may have picked him up and given him a ride.”
According to police reports, activity on Shurtz’ debit card was traced to a recent transaction in Fillmore. A Millard County Sheriff’s Deputy also stopped the man Saturday before it was known that he was missing.