Found Deceased CO - Mitchell 'Dale' Stehling, 51, Mesa Verde National Park, 9 June 2013

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http://www.cortezjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130709/MT03/130709834/-1/News

Mitchell Dale Stehling, 51, disappeared after telling his wife and mother he was going for a hike to the Spruce Tree House ruin, accessible by a steep ¼-mile paved trail.

When he had not returned two hours later, a two-week intensive search began that at its peak included 60 searchers, two dog teams, helicopter surveillance, and rope teams rappeling off cliffs in the Chapin Mesa area.

But not one physical clue has been found related to Stehling, who left with no water on a sweltering day that reached over 100 degrees. The hike was supposed to be short, but he ended up on a longer, more remote trail.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2014/jun/24/stehling_anniversary_bm_062514_242287/?counties

Over the course of a year, Stehling returned to the national park three times with the hope for answers, a glimmer of insight into what happened to her husband of 32 years, but the short-lived search last June went cold...

Farias said the park extended efforts for months to find Stehling, which included calling in close to 100 people at a time to search, scaling cliffs and searching in areas of the park closed to guests.

There are a lot of cliff areas in the park that extend down to the Ute Mountain reservation that are filled with rocks, and Farias said if Stehling fell down a cliff, it would be almost impossible to see him from above or below it. "If he fell off a cliff, if he fell in between a rock area - unless you are looking straight down, even helicopters would not see him," he said.
 
Dale Strehling's Disappearance and the Need to Track People Who Vanish on Federal Land
http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2015/02/dale_strehling_missing_federal_land_database.php
That's when Dale told Denean that he was heading off on a hike to the Spruce Tree House ruin, an attraction whose path is reportedly steep but just a quarter-mile long. But he didn't return, and after two hours, Denean raised an alarm, setting off a two-week search that included as many as sixty rescuers, plus helicopters, two dog teams and rope teams that rappelled off cliffs in the vicinity.
These efforts came up empty, and since then, there have been no developments in the case -- and no way to track it, since there isn't a federal database that allows access to information about people missing on federal lands.
more at link.
mitchell.dale.strehling.poster.jpg
 
No clues for hiker missing since 2013

https://durangoherald.com/articles/141040-no-clues-for-hiker-missing-since-2013

A hiker who went missing in Mesa Verde National Park more than 3½ years ago has still not been found, but the search continues.

Jesse Farias, chief ranger for Mesa Verde National Park, said Monday the area has been heavily searched, and efforts continue there but with no results.

“In November, we had a dog team come in and search that area again for human remains, but they did not pick up any hits,” he said Monday. “When we have search-and-rescue exercises, we go there and continue to look but have not found him.”

Farias said Stehling’s wife, Denean, was present for the most recent dog search in November.

“We all want closure on this case. It’s difficult for the family and for park staff. We let all employees know about the case, the missing poster is in our office, and we and continue to search different areas,” he said.

No foul play is suspected.

“My gut feeling is that he is out there somewhere and never left the park. There is no reason to think otherwise – there have been no sightings,” Farias said. “The case is still open.”
 
This really bugs me, how do people just seemingly disappear into thin air? So strange.
 
An intended half-mile-long hike to Spruce Tree House, a well-preserved dwelling carved into a sandstone cliff face at Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado, ended in tragedy for Mitchell Dale Stehling, 51, and his family in the summer 2013.

“We know he is dead,” but his body has never been found, says his wife, Denean.

Gone Missing In The National Parks
 
Added to Charley project: Mitchell Dale Stehling – The Charley Project

Mitchell Dale Stehling
  • stehling_mitchell.jpg
  • stehling_mitchell2.jpg
  • stehling_mitchell3.jpg
  • stehling_mitchell_hat.jpg
  • stehling_mitchell_shoes.jpg
Stehling, circa 2013; Hat and shoe similar to Stehling's

  • Missing Since06/09/2013
  • Missing FromMesa Verde National Park, Colorado
  • ClassificationLost/Injured Missing
  • Age51 years old
  • Height and Weight6'0, 200 - 230 pounds
  • Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA brown t-shirt, khaki shorts, white calf-high socks, brown Red Wing oxford shoes, a khaki "Mesa Verde Museum Association" baseball cap, and brown sunglasses with round lenses. Photos of a similar hat and shoe are posted with this case summary.
  • Medical ConditionsStehling suffers from severe back problems and has had multiple surgeries.
  • Distinguishing CharacteristicsCaucasian male. Graying brown hair, brown eyes. Stehling goes by his middle name, Dale.
Details of Disappearance
Stehling was last seen at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado on June 9, 2013. He'd gone there with his wife and parents. Stehling stated he going to hike to the Spruce Tree House ruin and left at 4:30 p.m. The trail to the Spruce Tree House is less than a quarter of a mile long and connects to the Petroglyph Point Trail; witnesses saw him on that trail and spoke to him.

Stehling never returned and has never been heard from again. The day he disappeared was very hot, with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees, and he didn't have any water with him. He did have a cellular phone, but no one was able to get any signals from it after his disappearance.
 
Name: Mitchell Dale Stehling

Missing from: Mesa Verde National Park

Date Missing: June 9, 2013

Description: Stehling was 51 years old at the time he went missing. White male, 6’0” tall, approximately 200 pounds, brown and gray hair, and brown eyes.

Case Info: Stehling was last seen on Sunday, June 9, 2013 while hiking in the park. He was on a road trip with his wife, father, and mother. After telling his family that he wanted to see the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling, Stehling started hiking at approximately 4:30 pm. The trail to the dwelling is less than 1/4 mile long and connects with the Petroglyph Point Trail. Stehling did not return from his hike.
See also: apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=316008

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1563/cold-cases.htm

MP_Stehling.jpg
 
I'm headed to Mesa Verde this summer and had remembered reading about a man missing in the park years ago so I decided to look him up.

I have to imagine he might have fallen off one of the cliffs or drop-offs on the Petroglyph Trail? It is odd he has never been found but perhaps he got wedged between boulders or something of that nature so that he was easy to miss during the searches.

I've read that hikers spoke to him on the trail--I wonder if they saw him near the start, end, or middle of it and what time exactly that was.

He will definitely be in my mind while I am in the park. I wish he would be found to give his family some closure.
 
I wonder who gave the anonymous tip and what it was? And why they waited 7 years to give it?

Regardless, RIP to Dale and condolences to his family.

I am hoping someone *recently* came upon his remains but perhaps wasn't supposed to be there and rather than explain themselves, decided to use the anonymous tip line.
 
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I am hoping someone *recently* came upon his remains but perhaps wasn't supposed to be there and rather than explain themselves, decided to use the anonymous tip line.

That's appears to be what happened.

Driver’s license, credit cards found with missing man at Mesa Verde National Park

In an email to The Durango Herald, Brown said the exact location will not be revealed.

“Due to the fact that the remains were found in a closed area, by someone hiking off trail in a closed area, and because of the cultural sensitivity of the park and its resources, and to prevent others from also hiking off trail, causing resource damage, and potentially turning into additional search and rescue cases, the park will not be releasing the exact location name,” she wrote.
 
Well, I'll be darned. My husband and I visited Mesa Verde 2 weeks after Dale disappeared. Hubby was recovering from back surgery, so we didn't go walking. It was also around 100 degrees and felt waaay too hot to wander down even the quarter-mile trail. Since then I've periodically checked to see if he had been found. Seven years! And the searchers had already searched the area, which was only 4 miles away from where he was last seen. RIP, Dale. :(
 
OK that makes sense about the tip.

I visited Mesa Verde this summer for the first time, and I thought of Dale while I was there. I am glad he has been found.
 
I wonder who gave the anonymous tip and what it was? And why they waited 7 years to give it?

Regardless, RIP to Dale and condolences to his family.

They had only just found the body, passing by. They were hikers in a more remote area of the park. Perhaps they were even hoping to find him. People do go look.

They did not wait 7 years. He would have not been a skeleton 7 years ago. They found bones that were clearly human and called them in.

<modsnip>
 
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Well, I'll be darned. My husband and I visited Mesa Verde 2 weeks after Dale disappeared. Hubby was recovering from back surgery, so we didn't go walking. It was also around 100 degrees and felt waaay too hot to wander down even the quarter-mile trail. Since then I've periodically checked to see if he had been found. Seven years! And the searchers had already searched the area, which was only 4 miles away from where he was last seen. RIP, Dale. :(

Searchers searched the trail he said he was going on (to the cliff dwellings) and the only other trail that he could have taken (Petroglyphs). They searched near the trail.

NPS says that he was found "in a remote area of the park" (which means "not on or near a trail" in NPS speak).

4.2 miles from the place near the Petroglyph Trail where he was last seen - but not on or near that trail.

It probably was way too hot and he may have been disoriented when he sat down. 4 miles in every direction from where he was last seen is at least 64 square miles - searches of that type are not done on foot nor can an air search cover that amount of land and find a human who hasn't put up some kind of emergency marker.

I say this only because people think that getting lost and only going "4 miles" is a short distance - but actually, even half a mile off a trail in a National Park or National Forest greatly increases the chances that if you are disabled by heat or have even a small accident (broken ankle, etc) that you will be found or heard.

This happens so frequently (people go off trail, no phone service or don't take their phone, and they cannot be found).
 
An anonymous tip led to the discovery of human remains in a remote area of Mesa Verde National Park. A medical examiner confirmed the remains are those of Mitchell Dale Stehling.
An anonymous tip led to the discovery of human remains in a remote area of Mesa Verde National Park. A medical examiner confirmed the remains are those of Mitchell Dale Stehling.
NPS image

Name: Mitchell Dale Stehling

Missing from
: Mesa Verde National Park

Date Missing: June 9, 2013. Remains located September 17, 2020.

Description: Stehling was 51 years old at the time he went missing. White male, 6’0” tall, approximately 200 pounds, brown and gray hair, and brown eyes.

Case Info: Stehling was last seen on Sunday, June 9, 2013 while hiking in the park. He was on a road trip with his wife, father, and mother. After telling his family that he wanted to see the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling, Stehling started hiking at approximately 4:30 pm. The trail to the dwelling is less than 1/4 mile long and connects with the Petroglyph Point Trail. Stehling did not return from his hike.
See also: apps.colorado.gov/apps/coldcase/casedetail.html?id=316008

An anonymous tip submitted to us led to the discovery of human remains in a remote area of the park. US Park Rangers, an ISB Special Agent, and personnel from the Montezuma County Coroner's Office located and recovered the remains on September 17, 2020. The remains and some personal items were found approximately 4.2 miles from the point where Stehling was last seen in June 2013. A medical examiner positively identified the remains as those of Mitchell Dale Stehling. There was no indication of foul play. Our thoughts are with the family, and we thank the person who submitted the tip to us. Park officials appreciate their personnel, community search and rescue, law enforcement groups, and the public for their support through the 7 year investigation.
 

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