Joe Keller's 19th birthday should have been the joyous capper to a cross-country road trip with two buddies.
The Cleveland, Tenn., teens were staying at historic Rainbow Trout Ranch in southwest Colorado, where Keller's aunt and uncle live and work surrounded by spectacular mountains, spruce and pine forests, lakes and creeks.
Joe and his friend went on an hour-long run July 23 on a lovely, sunshiny afternoon. They split up and agreed to meet at the house for supper. Keller never returned.
His utter disappearance is baffling. And the way the investigation has been handled has perplexed many in the Chattanooga area.
Two weeks ago, Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson called his Colorado counterpart, Conejos County Sheriff Howard Galvez, to offer to send a search team at Bradley County's expense and was refused.
Galvez finally agreed Friday to permit the team to come. That was three days after he officially suspended the search for Keller on Tuesday.
"We got his email at 9:34 a.m. this morning," Watson told the Times Free Press on Friday. "I still haven't spoken with Sheriff Galvez on the phone; he didn't respond to my first two calls but when I emailed, his undersheriff Chris Crown contacted one of my sergeants.
"I know he is extremely busy. A search like this makes huge demands and we were told he has a staff of six. But this is somewhat unusual in my experience of investigating multi-jurisdictional missing persons cases. For example, if someone from California went missing here, I would contact law enforcement in that person's city or county within 48 hours so we could start sharing information, leads, tips."
Galvez did not respond to Times Free Press calls or written requests for comment.
Watson said he only learned Keller was missing when his wife saw the news on the YMCA website. The couple were fond of Keller, a champion swimmer, because he did such a great job teaching kids how to swim.
Keller's mother, Zoe Keller, said it wasn't uncommon for Joe and his buddy to split up on their runs.
"They've been friends since they were boys and that's how they always ran because Joe's friend is faster - Joe is an athlete but he had asthma as a little boy," said Zoe Keller. She said her son - a popular and handsome blond athlete and active volunteer for charities - was majoring in business in college but recently decided he wanted to be a high school math teacher.
"My husband, Neal, and I flew to Colorado on July 24, Joe's birthday, the day he turned 19, to search for him."
The ranch is located in beautiful, wild and sparsely populated Conejos County - ranked the second poorest in Colorado. The county seat where Galvez has his office is Antonito, population 781.
Because the county could not afford to pay for a helicopter search, the Kellers used money raised by a GoFundMe campaign launched by Keller's friend to hire a helicopter.
Keller family friends also reached out to Ren Johnson, a Conejos County resident who owns a drone.
"There have been reports of a young blond man matching Joe's description running along Colorado-17 so I sent the drone along that road," Johnson said, noting that one of the photos shows a steep embankment alongside the road.
"It is possible for someone to slip and fall down one of those embankments," he said.
All theories are being explored, including foul play. Watson said he asked the FBI office in Chattanooga to reach out to their Colorado counterparts to assist his investigation.
Watson' team has searched for clues in text messages and calls. Zoe Keller remembers her son mentioning stunning rock formations nicknamed Faith Hope & Charity that he was eager to explore.
Volunteers poured into the county to help chase leads. Hunters took four-wheelers into mountain terrain Keller might have explored. Cowboys riding five abreast have ridden horses through meadows, across valleys, looking for clues. Fort Collins law enforcement brought a K9 team but the dogs never picked up Joe's scent. A man who owned a group of fishing lodges let the Keller family stay for free.
Bradley Sheriff's Office Lt. Brian Quinn and Detective Sgt. Kevin Chastain will be arriving in Conejos County early this week.
The National Weather Service is forecasting thunderstorms, but Keller's mother says that if anyone could survive in the wilderness, it would be her son.
"Last summer Joe hiked the Georgia part of the Appalachian Trail with two friends. They carried all their supplies and hiked 84 miles in five days," she said.
"Earlier this year Joe and a friend went on a day hike in the mountains and they missed the trail and it took them six hours to find their way out again. Here at home in Cleveland, Joe normally swims four miles a day and does a run almost every day of six or seven miles."'
Contact Lynda Edwards at ledwards@timesfreepress.com or 423- 757-6391.
Earlier news report: