Rescuers from Steamboat Springs spent a second frustrating day Tuesday searching for a 50-year-old local man reported missing for a week near the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area.
Jeffrey Fossum was last seen Wednesday morning on a surveillance camera at a gas station where he used his credit card. His vehicle was spotted Sunday evening near a trailhead after a friend reported him missing, according to Capt. Joel Rae of the Steamboat police department.
“We haven’t recovered any significant clues as to the direction he may have gone,” Rae said.
On Monday, rescuers on foot, horseback and all-terrain vehicles fanned out over the area, and search teams also scoured the banks of the Elk River, Rae said.
Noting that Steamboat resident Charles Horton survived for nine days in the backcountry in April after breaking his leg in a skiing accident, Rae said rescuers were holding out hope of finding Fossum alive.
Additional rescue teams from around the state are expected today to join the weary ranks of the Routt County crew, which has been involved in three major searches over the past four days, including the rescue of an 11- year-old autistic girl who was separated from her family and spent Sunday night alone in the woods.
Uncharacteristically, Fossum did not tell his best friend, Steve Mendel, where he was going.
“That may not be that unusual if he was just planning on going for a couple-hour hike,” Rae said.
He also did not take his two golden retrievers, which later were found running at large in his neighborhood and taken to the local animal shelter.
Neither Mendel nor family members could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Fossum’s son, who flew in from Texas to help searchers, and stepdaughter reported that he had not taken any camping gear, but that he was an experienced backcountry traveler, Rae said.
Although there is no reason to suspect foul play, Rae said, he declined to comment on Fossum’s reported state of mind.
On Sunday, when Mendel hadn’t heard from Fossum in several days, he contacted authorities, who checked his home and confirmed that the retiree was missing.
Shortly after the report was aired, a Routt County sheriff’s officer spotted Fossum’s 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser parked on a bridge over the Elk River in Hinman Park, about 20 miles north of Steamboat Springs.
“The weather is better now than it was a month ago,” Rae said, referring to Horton’s ordeal in the snow. “Somebody could easily survive for a couple of days, several weeks in these conditions. The possibility is alive that he’s still alive.”
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
