Routt County Search and Rescue conducted a ground search along with dog teams on Saturday, Aug. 13, looking for a 31-year-old Iowa man who was reported missing from his campsite at the Rainbow Gathering in north Routt County.

Routt County Search and Rescue President Jay Bowman said 12 people searched in a dense area northwest of the north Adams Park 1144 trailhead where the Rainbow Gathering took place earlier this summer.

The crew was accompanied by two cadaver dog teams from Vail and Summit County, Bowman said. A drone search of a larger area was conducted on Friday, Aug. 12.

Bowman identified the man who went missing as Jacob Cyr of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Cyr was last seen by a fellow camper on June 18 walking north and west into the forest from the informal group camping near the Adams Park north trailhead.

Search teams started from that point because they did not have a location of his tent location since Cyr’s tent had been removed during cleanup efforts.

Bowman said the area is overgrown with vegetation due to recent rain and is difficult to search.

“It’s so difficult to really conduct a search with the limited amount of information that we have,” Bowman said. “Our best clue was the person who saw him wander off into the woods before the gathering started on June 18. The search terrain is extremely difficult to find anything in.”

The Routt County Sheriff’s Office authorized the search after speaking with the missing man’s sister, Amanda Cyr, as well as the individual from the Rainbow Gathering, said Routt County Undersheriff Doug Sherar.

“At this time, it’s still an ongoing investigation,” Scherar said Tuesday, Aug. 16, noting the sheriff’s office does not plan to redeploy search and rescue without more specific search information. He said the drone search covered 1,000 acres, and the foot search covered 300 acres.

Amanda Cyr of Council Bluffs, Iowa, reported her older brother missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department on Aug. 5.

She said the information she received via others who camped near Jacob showed he walked off and never returned, leaving his tent, wallet, ID and cell phone. She said her brother attended three or four previous Rainbow Gathering events including in 2021.

Amanda Cyr posted on her Facebook page on Aug. 13, “So Jacob, wherever you are, there are three things I don’t want you to ever forget. 1. I love you with all my heart. 2. You have been the best big brother, friend and hero to me. And 3, we are the same age this week. I love you Jacob, I miss you so much. Please come home safe.”

“It’s a very difficult situation for them (the family) to go through,” Bowman said.

Amanda Cyr said her brother was employed in Council Bluffs and was expected to return home in late July after the Rainbow Gathering that culminated on July 4. She said her brother, one of four siblings, has no serious mental or physical health conditions known to her.

Jacob is a white male at approximately 165 pounds and 5’10” with long brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call the Routt County Sheriff’s Office.