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WASHINGTON, Washington County — Police continue to search for a Hurricane man missing since Monday evening after his damaged vehicle was found Wednesday in a flood plain.
Ryan Daniel Mertlich, 33, was last seen leaving a family member's home in the city of Washington. Mertlich sometimes takes different routes home, his family told police, and they aren't sure whether he made it home and left again before disappearing.
"Mertlich is known to drive the back roads between St. George and Hurricane," Mohave County (Arizona) sheriff's spokeswoman Trish Carter said in a statement Thursday.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office and Hurricane Police Department found Mertlich's camo-colored 1995 Chevrolet Geo Tracker on Wednesday afternoon, spotting it during an aerial search sitting 3 miles south of the Utah-Arizona border and 15 miles west of the small town of Colorado City, Arizona.
Mohave County search and rescue took over the missing person investigation after the vehicle was found. The agency said in a statement Thursday that the Geo Tracker "was located in a flood plain, heavily damaged."
Sheriff's deputies were assisted in their search Thursday by rangers from the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Crews also looked for Mertlich from the air.
"At this time, we have made attempts to contact him by phone with no success. His family and friends have not heard from him," Hurricane Police Sgt. Brandon Buell said in a statement Wednesday.
Mertlich's family first reported him missing Tuesday evening. He is described as white, 6 feet tall, with blond hair and a stocky build.
Anyone who may have information about Mertlich's whereabouts is asked to call Hurricane police at 435-627-4999.
