Search stalls in eastern Utah for Coloradan

Searchers have come up with nothing in their search for a Colorado woman who vanished somewhere in the vast deserts and tricky canyons of eastern Utah.

On Tuesday, eight searchers were looking in the area of Little Wild Horse Canyon for any sign of 54-year-old Rose Backhaus. Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon told the Deseret News they would not likely be searching for her on Wednesday.

"We'll kind of regroup and try to figure out where we go from here," the sheriff said Tuesday.

Detectives are traveling to Colorado to interview Backhaus' family and friends again. The weather is not expected to be good, so Guymon is considering halting the search for a few days — unless something significant develops.

Backhaus checked out of the LaQuinta Inn in Moab on Nov. 16. The sheriff said a witness saw her leave the parking lot at the trailhead where her SUV was found on Nov. 24. A note was also found in Backhaus' SUV.

"She made some writings about her trip to Moab and she was now in Little Wild Horse and was going to hike the canyon," Guymon said.

Anyone with information on Backhaus is urged to call the Emery County Sheriff's Office at 435-381-2404.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com