MOAB — Paragliders have ended a search for a missing Moab skydiving instructor without finding a trace of him.
Three men flew motorized paragliders over a 55-square-mile area around Moab on Saturday and Sunday in an effort to find 37-year-old David Brown, said family friend Micaelo Choo of Sandy.
A threat of thunderstorms caused the paragliders to halt the search after nearly three hours in the air Sunday morning, she said.
Ryan Shaw, owner of Paradrenalin of Phoenix, said he can "guarantee" that Brown is not in the large swath of backcountry that he and two other paragliders thoroughly searched.
Paraglider Ennis Zajmi, a Brown friend, agreed. "We can check that (area) off our list, and the family can feel like they've done everything they could to look for Dave," he said.
Moab police continue to investigate the disappearance of Brown, who was last seen walking into his Moab trailer on the afternoon of June 29 by his boss and longtime friend, Clint MacBeth, owner of Skydive Moab.
Investigators said there are no signs of foul play.
"I've never had a missing person case like this," Moab Police Chief Mike Navarre said. "There's not a whole lot of leads to follow in this case. Basically, the whole department is working on this at any time, including me."
Family and friends said it's uncharacteristic of Brown to vanish without a trace, and he wasn't planning any trips. His cash, driver's license, credit cards, clothing and belongings were left behind at his trailer, which was on MacBeth's property.
"I kind of feel helpless sometimes," MacBeth said. "He was outside my house. There's not many places he could go and I don't know where he's at ... He will come home eventually. He's going to come back, walk through that door with that big smile on his face, I hope."
MacBeth said that while Brown's girlfriend had recently left for Sweden, Brown didn't appear depressed. The girlfriend later returned to Moab to help in the search. Brown also had been going through a divorce, he said.
It will be the family's call as to how long to continue a volunteer search for Brown, Choo said.