Capitol Reef seeks help finding missing hiker in Chimney Rock area

Capitol Reef National Park asked for the public’s help after 77-year-old Richard Discipio was reported missing and may have gone into the park’s Chimney Rock area. Officials said Discipio was last seen at the Days Inn in Torrey, Utah, on June 6, and they were trying to trace his movements between June 6 and June 8.

Park officials said the search was a joint effort involving the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Wayne County, and Sevier County. The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office was listed as the contact for tips, and anyone who saw Discipio, spoke with him, or has information about where he went after June 6 was asked to call 1-800-356-8757. The park said it was unknown what clothing he was wearing. Later reports described Discipio as 5-foot-8, about 155 pounds, with green eyes.

The case also lays out the kind of terrain that can turn a short outing into a complicated search. Capitol Reef protects nearly a quarter-million acres in Utah’s slickrock country, and the Waterpocket Fold, a nearly 100-mile-long geologic monocline, cuts through the park. Elevation runs from 3,880 feet to 8,960 feet, and the park says cell service is not reliable in much of that country. Capitol Reef also warns that rescues and tow trucks can take hours, which is exactly why a missing person in a backcountry area can demand a fast, multi-agency response.

Chimney Rock sits close enough to the highway to look approachable, but it still reaches into the kind of ground that needs a plan. Hiking guides describe the Chimney Rock Loop Trail as a 3.6-mile moderate-to-strenuous route, and the trailhead sits just off Utah State Route 24 on the west side of the park. Capitol Reef says backcountry camping requires a free permit, parking can be difficult at popular trailheads in spring through fall, and visitors should leave a trip plan before heading out.

That is the tension in a place like Capitol Reef: a trailhead near the road can still lead into remote country fast. With Discipio possibly in the Chimney Rock area and officials still piecing together where he went after June 6, the park’s request is as direct as the landscape is unforgiving.