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DUGWAY — A Dugway soldier remained missing late Sunday after a search-and-rescue team member happened across the car the soldier was driving in an remote area miles from the military installation's main gate.
Discovery of the car late Saturday revived the search for Spec. Joseph Bushling, who disappeared a week ago Sunday.
A Tooele County search-and-rescue team member found the car in a deep ravine while on a personal trip with his father near Fish Springs, said Tooele County Emergency Management spokesman Wade Mathews. Fish Springs is a national wildlife refuge southwest of Dugway.
Now that they have a place to start they can circle out from there. But when they didn't have a place to start, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.
–Kevin Bushling
Tooele County Search and Rescue, Dugway Proving Ground's commander, military vehicles and several search dogs combed the area Sunday to no avail. Mathews said searchers were out until at least dark Sunday and anticipated resuming the search Monday morning.
Bushling called a friend on his cell phone on the evening of May 8 to report car trouble. A search began but the black 2001 Mitsubishi Lancer was the first physical evidence to be found. Mathews said crews pulled the car from the ravine and hauled it back to Dugway.
Dugway spokeswoman Paula Thomas said there were no clues in the car that might explain Bushling's whereabouts.
Bushling's father Kevin Bushling said he got a call Sunday morning about the car being found 64 miles southwest of Dugway's main gate. The director of the Dugway police department "told me he was assigning people areas" to search.
"I just got a call from the (Dugway) chaplain saying he personally saw 15 to 20 vehicles going out (Sunday) morning, and that the colonel was with them," Bushling said, referring to Dugway commander Col. William E. King IV.
"The vehicle had kind of slid off into a ravine," Bushling said. The keys were not in it but other personal items belonging to the missing soldier were.
The update is significant to Bushling and his wife, Lisa. They live in Russellville, Ark., but know the vastness of Utah's western desert.
"Now that they have a place to start they can circle out from there. But when they didn't have a place to start, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack," he said. But "we feel very hopeful."
The news also softens Bushling's concern his son met with foul play. The Bushling's only other son died a year ago.
"We'll do everything we can to try to find this young soldier," Thomas said Sunday.
On Friday, she said the 1,300-square-mile area of Dugway Proving Ground had been searched three times, both from the air and on the ground.
The car belongs to another soldier at Dugway who is away on a temporary assignment, Bushling said. Joseph had agreed to take care of the car while the owner was away. Bushling and Dugway both said Friday the owner of the car has since reported it stolen, but indications are the report was made to begin an insurance claim.
Joseph Bushling is assigned to Medical Command at Fort Carson, Colo., and stationed at the Dugway Proving Ground medical clinic.
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