By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Juab County Sheriff David Carter fears that a missing
Magna woman is dead somewhere near the place where her car
was found abandoned.
Johnnie Mae Miles, 68, has been missing since
Thursday, June 6, nearly two months ago.
She left that day to go to the store. Miles' car was
found in Juab County later that night , said Carter.
The elderly woman has not been seen since a cow-herder
reportedly saw her walking along a road in Juab County.
"We looked for her intensely for the first two weeks
and have continued to look for her since but we still
haven't located her," he said. "We have had no leads and
have received no information about her even though we had
hoped she might have been found and taken to another
location."
For nearly two months she has been the subject of an
intensive search in Juab County. Miles reportedly suffered
from senile dementia.
Carter said at first searchers were hoping the woman
had been picked up by a driver as she walked in the desert
and had been taken somewhere safe. It was also hoped that
the rescuer would see the news reports and call to tell
officers where they had left her.
"That has not happened," said Carter. "She is probably
out there, somewhere near where her car was found. We just
can't find her."
The family reported that she had been lost and
confused on other occasions. The family also told Carter
that Miles had recently had knee surgery.
"The family didn't think she could walk up any
incline," said Carter. "The area where a cow-herder reported
he might have seen Miles walking along a roadway is
uphill."
A cow-herder reported seeing her about 6:30 a.m. the
day after she was found to be missing and said she was
walking along a road about one and one-eighth mile from the
accident site.
Carter said he is concerned that this case may end
like the one in which Jeff Allen was lost in the West Desert
of Juab County. The man remained lost for many months until
a prospector found his remains.
"We had actually flown over the site where he was
eventually found but had not seen his remains from the air,"
said Carter.
Miles, an African-American, is described as being
5-foot 8-inches tall and weighing approximately 135 pounds.
When she was last seen, she was wearing a white shirt and
tan-colored pants.
The accident site, he said, was approximately 15 miles
northeast of Little Sahara Sand Dunes and 20 miles west of
Eureka.
"We began the search with an intensive three-day
effort, said Carter. "We are still searching but we now have
just the deputies of the Sheriffs Office and myself."
In the beginning, said Carter, there were 25 members
of the sheriffs office and the Juab County Search and Rescue
team along with 20 other volunteers looking intensively for
the missing woman.
"We had just that kind of intensive search for Jeff
Allen," said Carter. "We even walked the ground area and we
have done that in this search."
Carter said the Miles car, a gold 1999 Chrysler, was
located during the evening of the same day Miles had been
reported missing by Deputy Cody Laird at Cherry Creek near
Little Sahara Sand Dunes in Juab County's West Desert. It
was a quick identification because the car was found the day
the woman was first reported missing by her family.
The car had slid off the road into the stream but
there were no occupants, said Carter. However, Salt Lake
County Sheriffs Department had listed Miles as a missing
person and had identified her car and so the Juab Sheriffs
Department knew who they were looking for.
"We have covered eight to ten miles in all directions
of the accident scene," Carter said. "We used four-wheel
recreation vehicles, four-wheel drive trucks, searchers on
horseback and on foot."
Anyone who may have information about the woman's
whereabouts should call Juab County Sheriffs Office at
1-435-623-1349. Callers may also notify the Salt Lake County
Sheriffs Office.
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