Rock Search and Rescue will conduct its 14th search for Macin Smith April 1. The group is accepting 30–50 volunteers age 14 or older to assist from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Volunteers should exit Southern Parkway at the Warner Valley exit, head east, and look for the Red Rock Search and Rescue command post at the top of the hill near the water tank. Volunteers are encouraged to bring long pants, hiking shoes (over the ankle are best), a daypack with water, extra water (3 liters total), lunch, snacks, gloves, a walking stick, a hat, and sunscreen.
Smith, originally from Canada, disappeared Sept. 1, 2015. He had only lived in the area for 4 months prior to starting school as a senior at Desert Hills High School. He had not made any close friends and mostly kept to himself. His parents had assumed he had left for school after they heard him get up and leave, but he did not get on the bus that morning. He left home without his wallet, and his phone was taken away the night before after an argument with his father.
An initial sighting included a man that resembled Macin holding a sign near exit 4, towards Bloomington, asking for a ride to Las Vegas. This prompted family and friends to head south and search the streets of Las Vegas.
Tracey Smith, Macin’s mother, contacted Red Rock Search and Rescue for help. Volunteers spent the next two weekends searching Las Vegas and the surrounding area with no luck. On Sept. 26, 2015, after learning that a note with “intent to harm” was found in Macin’s wallet, Red Rock Search and Rescue organized a search involving more than 200 volunteers including friends, family, and community members to scour the land near the Smith home in hopes of finding any sign of Smith. Since this time, there have been 10 searches in the St. George area and three in Las Vegas as well as private searches in Modesto and Sacramento.
Red Rock Search and Rescue’s Las Vegas division was formed in 2012 when a hiker, Ron Kirk, had gone missing in Red Rock Canyon. When Smith disappeared in 2015, Red Rock Search and Rescue’s St. George division was created. Currently, Red Rock Search and Rescue’s St. George division has a staff of 10 individuals who have spent the last year volunteering and training for qualifications of the National Association of Search and Rescue program.
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