Wildfire unveils new clue in case of missing man

‘Everyone started this search with the presumption that we would be finding remains based on the evidence found,’ Grand Canyon spokesperson says

A backpack belonging to a man who went missing in Idaho in 2014 has been found by firefighters battling a wildfire in the Grand Canyon in Arizona.

The fire crew found the bag of David Alford as they were trying to contain the Dragon Fire ravaging the canyon’s North Rim.

The fire covered more than 1,300 acres last month and resulted in the shutting down of parts of the canyon, according to Newsweek.

On Tuesday, fire crews found the bag as they were preparing containment lines. The bag was found in a remote part of the state, with the closest large city being Kanab, Utah – 1.5 hours away, KTVB reported.

Mr Alford was 36 years old when he disappeared as she set off on a hitchhiking trip. His ID and other personal belongings were found in the backpack.

He began his journey after living in the Idaho capital of Boise. His sister Analee Reseigh told KTVB that he had shared his wish to hitchhike to Arizona. She said she took him to an interstate in August of 2014 for him to start his travels.

“He’s a spiritual person, and so I think he had planned to cut off communication. But we were all very surprised when we didn’t hear from him a few months later, especially around the holidays,” she told the Idaho TV station.

The backpack of David Alford, who went missing in Idaho in 2014, has been found in the Grand Canyon (Getty Images / Idaho Missing Persons)

The bag was provided to rangers, who sent it back to Boise police. Despite search teams being sent to the area where the bag was found, no other items or clues were located.

The investigation remains active and it’s unclear if there was any foul play in Mr Alford’s disappearance.

Hundreds of thousands of people are reported missing in the US, but the number missing person files have declined going back to 1997, FBI data shows.

In 1997, there were 980,712 missing person files in the US. Last year, that figure was 521,705, according to Statista.

Grand Canyon National Park spokesperson Joelle Baird told KTVB that the area where the backpack was found “is only accessible via a four-wheel drive road”.

“It’s known as the W1 road, which is more or less an access road which gets people into the inner basin. Not a lot of people go out there, though,” she added.

“He got to the Grand Canyon, obviously, and he didn’t walk. So we would just like to [know] if somebody out there gave him a ride. We’d love to talk to that person to hopefully get more information. That’s really our goal right now,” Ms Baird said.

“They did find identification inside and personal belongings. They were able to positively identify it belonged to him,” she told KTVB. “Following that discovery, we had a small search team here on the North Rim of the park assembled as well as two K-9 units from search and rescue.”

“Everyone started this search with the presumption that we would be finding remains based on the evidence found,” she added. “This location is a little odd, though, because it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere. For there to be no other evidence ... It’s just not an area most people get to on foot.”

Mr Alford would be 44 years old today. He’s described as a white man, 5’8” (173 cm) and around 140 pounds (63.5 kg) with blue eyes and an ankle tattoo of a Capricorn sign.

Anyone with information concerning the case is urged to contact the Boise Police Department at 208-570-6000.