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Search for missing New Castle woman scaled back

Pete Fowler
Glenwood Springs correspondent
Aspen CO, Colorado

MOAB, Utah ” The Utah search for a missing New Castle woman has been scaled back, but the sheriff handling it said authorities “won’t call it off until we find her.”

“Right now we’re just trying to regroup and plan what we’re going to do from here on,” Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon said. “We won’t call it off until we find her, but there’s no way to continue to search every day like we were.”

Rose Backhaus, 54, was last seen checking out of the La Quinta Inn in Moab on Nov. 16. Friends, family and co-workers said it was highly unusual she didn’t call or return home that night or to work the next morning as planned. On Nov. 24, authorities discovered her Ford Explorer at Goblin Valley State Park, about 70 miles west of Moab.



Backhaus was from Denver and has lived in the Glenwood Springs area for around seven years. She worked at Copy Copy in Glenwood Springs.

Authorities are pursuing other avenues to see if any useful information can be turned up. Guymon said two investigators were sent to Colorado last week and are awaiting legal authorization to search her computers.




On Friday and Saturday, authorities searched Little Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon again, a popular loop in Goblin Valley State Park. Backhaus’ Ford Explorer was found parked at a trailhead near the entrance to Little Wild Horse Canyon.

Guymon said authorities planned to start another search later this week west of the canyons. Previous searches with dogs and in the air by airplane and helicopter also weren’t successful. Family members and friends have also traveled to Utah to try to help out.

pfowler@postindependent.com