Overdue individual missing at Coral Pink Sand dunes located deceased

Just before noon on Sunday April 13, 2025, Kane County Sheriff’s Office was notified of a potential overdue person at The Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

Photo via Joe Mower.

Neal Mower, 67, Ivins, Utah, purchased a one-day pass at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park on Thursday April 10, at about 11 a.m. Sunday morning, other individuals realized his vehicle had been there several days, but they had not seen Mower.

Kane County deputies responded to the area and began looking for any clues as to Mower’s whereabouts. A search of his vehicle and trailer did not provide anything out of the ordinary. Deputies spoke with other campers in the area to see if anyone had seen anything. They worked with the Ivins police Department to check his residence in an attempt to locate family, friends or neighbors who might have information that would help locate him. Kane County dispatchers worked with his cell phone company to try and locate his phone and look at his historical data to see where he might have travelled.

Kane County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue was dispatched along with the Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter out of St. George, Utah. Crews searched the area until dark based on possible clues from his cell phone data with no success. Searchers from Kane County Search and Rescue, The Kanab Area BLM Field Office and the DPS helicopter resumed their efforts Monday morning. Mower was located by the helicopter crew about 1.8 miles from his vehicle.

Unfortunately, he was deceased. The scene was processed by a medical investigator from the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Mower was transferred to Mosdell Mortuary in Kanab, Utah for transport to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office in Salt Lake City for further investigation into the cause of his death.

Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Glover offer their sincere condolences to the family and friends of Neal Mower. Also, a huge debt of gratitude to the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau, the Kanab Bureau of Land Management staff and our tireless volunteer search and rescue members who took time away from their families and jobs to help search.