An El Paso County sheriff’s deputy, recently reported missing and found in metro Denver, has gone missing again — in the Wild Basin area in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to federal rangers who on Friday suspended a search and appealed for help.

Deputy Kevin Sypher was last seen on Sunday afternoon in the Sandbeach Lake parking lot near the Wild Basin Entrance Station with a family member, and park officials were notified on Monday, according to an announcement by park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson. “He is reported to have willingly walked away from a vehicle he was traveling in,” Patterson said.

Sypher had been reported missing from Parker on April 27 and on April 29 was located in the Denver area and reunited with his family.

A ranger on Monday encountered a group of people searching for Sypher. Park rangers, too, began a search. The park rangers investigating this matter learned that a man matching Sypher’s description was seen walking west on Wild Basin Road near Copeland Lake. Searchers focused on that road and river corridor and along a trail.

On Wednesday, park searchers deployed a dog team and concentrated on a trail leading up to Copeland Falls. A frequent park visitor told searchers about seeing a man matching Sypher’s description near the Wild Basin summer trailhead on Monday.

Sypher was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a blue baseball cap, jeans, and cowboy boots. He’s about 6’2” tall and weighs around 180 pounds and has gray hair and brown eyes.

While “active” searching has been suspended, “patrols will continue” in the search area, Patterson said. Anybody with information that could help searchers is asked to call or text the National Park Service Investigative Services Bureau tip line at 888-653-0009.

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