Volunteers searching for a geologist who disappeared in Arizona in June found human remains over the weekend, but the missing man’s father says the recovered bones did not belong to his son.
The Buckeye Police Department has confirmed that the skeletal remains found on Saturday by a group of searchers looking for Daniel Robinson were human.
DNA tests will be used to try to determine the identity of the deceased.
Robinson’s father, David Robinson, shared a video from the search site to a Twitter account called ‘Please Help Find Daniel’ and wrote in a post: ‘Saturday, November 6, 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. The human remains is not Daniel. I will continue my searches for my son.’
Skeletal remains were found on Saturday as part of a search for missing geologist Daniel Robinson, 24, who vanished in June
Daniel’s father, David Robinson (left) and Jeff McGrath (right), an investigator hired by the Robinson family, said that volunteers had unearthed femur and leg bones
Robinson’s mangled Jeep was found in a ravine by a rancher in July
Saturday, November 6, 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. The human remains is not Daniel. I will continue my searches for my son. pic.twitter.com/sDlFFOEe48
— Please Help Find Daniel (@PleaseHelpFind4) November 7, 2021
In the 51-second video, Jeff McGrath, an investigator hired by the Robinson family, said that volunteers had unearthed femur and leg bones.
‘We don’t know whose it is,’ McGrath said of the grim discoveries.
Police said evidence found near the skeletal remains suggested the remains may not belong to Robinson, but a spokesperson for the agency on Monday declined to says what that evidence was, citing the ongoing investigation.
The 24-year-old geologist was last seen leaving a work site at Sun Valley Parkway and Cactus Road in Buckeye, 35 miles west of Phoenix, on June 23, shortly after sending a final text to a woman he had met delivering alcohol and was said to be in love with, according to a report.
His father reported him missing when Daniel failed to return home that evening.
A rancher found Robinson’s mangled 2017 Jeep Renegade in a ravine 3 miles away on July 19. His keys, cellphone, boots and clothes were also recovered, but there was no sign of the man.
An independent crash report found that the Jeep accelerated immediately before the crash.
David Robinson has been conducting regular searches for his missing son over the past four months
A large group of volunteers scoured an area in Buckeye, Arizona, on Saturday, leading to the discovery of the remain believed to be human
Police have confirmed that the skeletal remains were found on Saturday by a group of searchers
McGrath previously told DailyMail.com that the Jeep’s airbag control module showed that the vehicle was driven 11 miles after the airbags deployed and the ignition was turned 46 times.
He also said the damage to the vehicle appeared to show that it had been hit above the windshield with something blunt.
DailyMail.com reported last month that prior to his disappearance, Robinson told friends he was in love with a woman, but his feelings were not reciprocated.
Eighteen hours before his last sighting at the remote work site, Robinson sent the woman, known only as Katelyn, a text message that read: ‘the world can get better, but I’ll have to take all the time I can or we can, whatever, to name it.
‘I’ll either see you again or never see you again.’
Robinson – who was born without his right hand – met Katelyn on his side job delivering groceries for Instacart.
When he turned up with a booze order at her home in the Phoenix suburb of Laveen on June 12, Katelyn and a friend who was with her, invited him in.
‘Katelyn said she believed Daniel was very nice and she and her female friend asked Daniel if he wanted to hang out with them,’ the police report said.
‘Katelyn said she and her female friend “were drunk” and that looking back on it, she shouldn’t have invited a stranger into her home.’
She added that she thought he was ‘harmless as he only had one arm and was short in height.’
Robinson was said to be in love with a woman who rebuffed him, and he was reportedly acting in a strange manner before his disappearance
Katelyn – whose last name is redacted in reports – and Daniel exchanged numbers, but she insists, nothing else happened.
Within a week, he arrived at her house unannounced, and with only a brief exchange of messages between them, Robinson texted Katelyn: ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about you.’
Robinson – who was born without his right hand – met Katelyn on his side job delivering groceries for Instacart.
When he turned up with a booze order at her home in the Phoenix suburb of Laveen on June 12, Katelyn and a friend who was with her, invited him in.
‘Katelyn said she believed Daniel was very nice and she and her female friend asked Daniel if he wanted to hang out with them,’ the police report said.
‘Katelyn said she and her female friend “were drunk” and that looking back on it, she shouldn’t have invited a stranger into her home.’
She added that she thought he was ‘harmless as he only had one arm and was short in height.’
Police used robotic equipment to search old mineshafts in the area
Robinson’s Jeep was found with its airbags deployed and with Daniel’s wallet, clothes, phone and credit card inside
Katelyn – whose last name is redacted in reports – and Daniel exchanged numbers, but she insists, nothing else happened.
Within a week, he arrived at her house unannounced, and with only a brief exchange of messages between them, Robinson texted Katelyn: ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about you.’
Daniel Robinson was last seen on June 23 when he turned up for work, his second job of the day, at 9:30 am at a remote desert site, that builders are hoping to develop.
It was an abnormally cool and rainy day for the area. He met up with pump technician Ken Elliott who he had never met before and they were to work on a deep well.
Elliott told police that Robinson ‘was saying things that did not make sense,’ such as asking if he wanted to go with him to Phoenix to rest.
Elliott told him he had work to do, but just 15 minutes after he arrived, Robinson abruptly left without a word.
Elliott later followed his tire tracks in the rain-soaked dirt road and found that instead of going left at a T-junction to return to Phoenix, Robinson turned right into the unrelenting Sonoran Desert.
Helicopter and drone searches failed to find his slate blue Jeep Renegade. Rancher Brandon Shelton eventually discovered it on July 19, nearly a month after Robinson’s disappearance.
It was on its side at the bottom of a 20-foot ravine. The vehicle’s airbags were deployed.