The strange disappearance of rock hunter Trevor Bazil

NevadaRock HuntersWilderness DisappearancesTrevor Bazil

Nov 22

Trevor Bazil, disappeared August 14, 2020, Miller Wash, Panaca, Lincoln County, Nevada

Revised Apri 2024

Trevor Bazil, 43, left his home in Panaca, Nevada on Friday, August 14, 2020, to do some rock hunting in the hills just south of town. Trevor, an art teacher, had a passion for collecting rocks and had made this trip many times before, sometimes staying out late into the night.

Three months on, Trevor remains missing, despite his rock bucket being discovered, soon after he was reported lost and a very significant effort to find him.

Bazil is 5-foot-9, 225 pounds with brown hair, blue eyes and some facial hair. He was wearing a tan shirt, blue jeans and hiking boots that day.

The search for Trevor Bazil

However, when Trevor failed to return that night, his family mounted a search, eventually finding his vehicle deep within the hills near Miller Wash, about 15 miles south of Panaca on Oak Wells Road.

On Saturday, August 15, over 100 volunteers met outside of the Panaca Market and then started to scour the area near Miller Wash, coordinated by Officer Charles Umina from the Sheriff’s office.

They quickly found a scent trace and tracked it seven miles throughout the surrounding area, eventually coming upon a bucket full of rocks that he had apparently collected, along with a towel. Despite this breakthrough, the first day ended without finding him, despite air and ground searches.

The area is not very rough and consists of low rolling hills with pine, juniper & sagebrush.

The next day, search and rescue teams started a grid search around the area surrounding the bucket. More air and ground support came in to help, and another large volunteer force combed the area for clues.

Drone operators helped direct the volunteers, and horses, ATVs, side-by-sides, and dirt bikes were just some of the many means by which the search was conducted. By the end of that second day, the search dogs couldn’t hold onto Bazil’s scent, and it was determined that the area had been searched as much as possible.

Day three saw some of the most organized searching, with the Nevada Department of Forestry sending out crews in near-record heat. This time, the search was conducted closer to Bazil’s vehicle in hopes that he had doubled back and had gotten lost whilst walking to his vehicle. Volunteers scoured the mountains and ditches in the area, but after more than 12 hours of searching and a few heat-related injuries, the final official day of searching came to a close.

The search efforts, which were overseen by the Bazil family, family friend Shawn Frehner and assisted by local organizations, were hailed as being one of the largest responses ever seen in Lincoln County. Businesses from all over the county took part in the search, with additional support from Pahranagat Valley and free burritos provided by a local food truck.

Five cadaver dog teams searched the area on August 22 and 23, courtesy of Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Dogs out of the Salt Lake area. Canines had been used in the search area before that point, but they were hunting dogs, not dedicated search and rescue. Nothing more was found, and they were forced to call off their search on August 23. Some in the community speculated that the vast volunteer force searching the mountains had the accidental effect of adding too many scents to the area, possibly confusing the dogs.

However, Sheriff Kerry Lee, who worked with the teams and has been involved in the search efforts since the beginning, said the main reason the dogs had trouble in the area was the heat. Lee said dogs could only be used until around 10 a.m., and by that time, the temperature was just too much for them to handle. They focused on points of interest, like the location of his discarded rock bucket and the area where his vehicle was found, but with no luck.

In early October, Dixie Bazil, Trevor’s wife, shared a heartfelt message with the Lincoln County Record. In it, she thanked the community and all of the people who have helped her family.

The Facebook page for the search appears to be offline.

What happened to Trevor Bazil?

Law enforcement officials have stated that Bazil could have, in a wounded or delirious state, wandered as far as eight to ten miles from his original location, and while the searches have been organized and thorough, the area they’re covering is so vast and thick with foliage that even the airplanes involved in the search had trouble finding anything.

Some believe that a mountain lion could be involved in his disappearance, but law enforcement sources say there’s very little proof backing this theory.

Was it the extreme heat that took its toll? As of November 22, 2020, Trevor remains missing. He is not the first rock hunter to disappear in mysterious circumstances.