Dylan Rounds has not been seen since May 28.
After graduating high school, a young farmer bought land in rural Utah to get started on a new career. But, as he was working on his first crop near the Utah/Nevada border, he suddenly went missing.
Dylan Rounds, 19, had spent the past few summers farming in Lucin, Utah. On May 28, he last spoke to his grandma, and no one has heard from him since. Rounds' parents told East Idaho News that they have not seen him anywhere, and there has been no activity on his phone or bank account.
The FBI is now involved in the case.
East Idaho News reported that Rounds’ family went to his farm on May 30 to check in on him after not hearing from him. When Rounds wasn't there, they contacted the police and Box Elder County Search & Rescue. After arriving, the crews started searching the property.
Rounds’ boots, the only pair he owned, were discovered 100 yeards away from his grain truck “just casually tossed out,” Rounds’ mother, Candice Cooley, told East Idaho News. Detectives told Cooley that a spot of blood was found on them, which she told East Idaho News that police were holding onto in case cadaver dogs needed them for scent.
“At that point, it should have been treated as foul play,” Cooley told ABC7. “You just don’t see someone’s boots in the desert that’s missing.”
No tire traces leading to or from Rounds' red pickup vehicle were found, which Cooley claims was another suspicious discovery according to East Idaho News. It rained in Lucin the weekend he vanished, so if he had left and returned, the dirt would have been marked.
Rounds’ truck was also noticeably pressure-washed.
“There is no mud on the tires, there’s no mud on the rims but the wheel wells are full of mud like they’ve been driven in the rain,” Cooley told East Idaho News. “And when I got in the pickup…the seat was scooted up to the point I didn’t even have to move it to drive. I’m 4’11”, Dylan is 5’11” and every time I’ve ever gotten in Dylan’s pickup, I can’t reach the pedals.”
Tips are scarce, according to Fox News.
"We’re not even getting tips," Box Elder County Chief Deputy Cade Palmer told Fox News. "We’re not getting phone calls,
"We need a direction, evidence, something that’s not a wild goose chase, because it’s not good terrain out there, and it’s not for people who just leisurely just want to come out and search," she told Fox News Digital.
"If somebody is involved with Dylan’s disappearance, they need to know we're not going to go away," Chief Deputy Palmer told Fox News Digital. "If this takes months, if it takes years, we'll keep knocking on doors."
An FBI spokesperson told East Idaho News that they are offering assistance and resources to Box Elder County deputies.
Cooley noted that significant progress has been made since it became involved the week of June 14. She criticized Box Elder officials, stating they gave the family inconsistent help in the early stages of the search according to Law&Crime.
Rounds’ family is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who finds him or knows where he might be according to East Idaho News. The family is posting updates on the Find Dylan Rounds Facebook page.
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