BUCKEYE — According to the father of a man who went missing in June in the Buckeye area, human remains found Saturday are not those of his missing son.
David Robinsontweeted a few times over the weekend after one of what have become routine searches of a fairly remote area off of Cactus Road, west of Sun Valley Parkway. David, private investigator Jeff McGrath and volunteers have been searching an area where his son, Daniel, might have gone when he disappeared June 23.
In a video posted to Twitter on Saturday, McGrath said a decision was made to search an area farther south than most previous searches. For about the past 14 weeks, McGrath and Robinson have led a group searching parts of undeveloped northwest Buckeye, searching for any trace of Daniel Robinson.
McGrath said two femurs and a hip bone were found Saturday. He said the remains were confirmed to be human by a medical examiner. However, David Robinson said the remains did not belong to his son.
“My weekly searches for my son Geologist Daniel Robinson has again uncovered human remains out in the desert of Buckeye, AZ, hopefully bringing some closure to another grieving family,” David Robinson tweeted Saturday from the Twitter account @PleaseHelpFind4. “The human remains is not Daniel. I will continue my searches for my son.”
The Robinsons are from South Carolina. David Robinson, who was born without a right hand, overcame that challenge to earn a degree from the College of Charleston, and came to Arizona. He was working as a hydrogeologist for a firm and doing field work in Buckeye with a co-worker when he disappeared the morning of June 23.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System lists five people who’ve gone missing in Buckeye during the past 30 years, including Daniel Robinson.
Police interviewed dozens of people, ranging from Daniel’s father to co-workers to the manager of a Shell station in the area where Robinson disappeared.
There is a $10,000 reward offered for information that brings resolution to Daniel’s disappearance.
Daniel is about 5-foot-8, 165 pounds, does not have a right hand, has a medium-dark complexion and brown eyes.
Anyone with information that can help solve the case is urged to call the Buckeye Police Department non-emergency number, 623-349-6400.
Updates on the case from Daniel’s father can be found on Twitter at @PleaseHelpFind4, on the website pleasehelpfinddaniel.com or on the Instagram account named pleasehelpfinddaniel.
So far, it appears one of Daniel’s co-workers has shed the most light on Robinson’s disappearance.
Police spoke with that co-worker, whose first name is Ken and whose last name is redacted from police reports. Ken pointed out Robinson had been to the job site in Buckeye but left in the morning and had not come back. The co-worker said Robinson arrived at the site at about 9 a.m. and it was raining.
The co-worker told police Robinson was saying things that did not make sense, such as asking if Ken wanted to go rest, then asking if Ken wanted to go to Phoenix to rest. After about 15 minutes on site, Robinson suddenly left and didn’t return.
After he was informed, in the afternoon, that Robinson hadn’t been located or responded to calls or texts from family and his employer, Ken drove along the north-south dirt road that is the only way in or out of the job site for a vehicle.
He told police the tire tracks of Robinson’s light blue 2017 Jeep Renegade. He said it appeared Robinson headed south to a “T” intersection, turned west toward an open desert area, rather than east toward Sun Valley Parkway.
Ken didn’t see any trace of Robinson, nor his vehicle, in that desert area. He said he continued working and that he was receiving updates throughout the day from his project manager.
The police report says Robinson’s sister had been to his apartment in Tempe. Robinson was not there and neither was his vehicle.
On July 19, a landowner spotted Robinson’s Renegade in a ravine. Because of the rough terrain, the vehicle had not been not clearly visible to crews searching by air and on foot.
Buckeye Police Department spokesperson Carissa Planalp said Tuesday officers were called out to investigate the discovery of human remains Saturday, in the vicinity of Sun Valley Parkway and mile post 113.
“Investigators are waiting on DNA testing for official identification,” Planalp said.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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