Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of Paul Miller’s disappearance at Joshua Tree National Park in California.
Multiple search efforts since then have unearthed no sign of the Guelph man or his belongings.
“Sometimes it feels like he’s just late coming home from work,” said Paul’s wife Stephanie Miller. “There’s absolutely no closure at all. When someone dies you go through the grieving process. It’s something we haven’t been able to do.
"People have been asking, 'will you have a celebration of life?' Well I don't know if we need one yet."
Paul and Stephanie were getting ready to come home from California on July 13, 2018. He decided to go on one last hike along the 49 Palms Oasis Trail that morning.
When he didn’t return in time to check out of the hotel, Stephanie called the park and the search began immediately.
Paul’s rental car was still in the parking lot and he was nowhere to be found.
“It’s been a frustrating year in a lot of ways,” said Paul’s sister Dawne Robinson. “We’re at the stage where we just want to know what happened and bring some kind of closure.”
Robinson has hit the ground with search teams three times. She says they’ve been trying to get the park administration to allow them to bring in search and rescue drone pilots.
On Thursday, the new chief ranger told Robinson she could apply for a special user’s permit.
“It gives us a little bit of hope that maybe we’ll find something,” she said.
Robinson says she’ll return in the fall to search again, but Stephanie doesn’t want to go back.
"Maybe in time,” said Stephanie. “I have no intention of going back there, unless it's to go and pick him up.”
