The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello everyone
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host Allie and it will just be me coming to you
this week. I know we took last week off and frankly
we've taken a lot of weeks off this summer, but
this summer, summer of 2025, has really been
one for the books in our family. So we have definitely
needed just the time, the space. We had dog surgeries,
we've had weddings, we've just had trying to
enjoy the summer. So thank you so much for being
patient with us. We promise we will be back on
our regularly scheduled program soon enough,
but I wanted to get on here and bring you another
episode this week, even though Eli, my wonderful
husband, can't join us. I also just wanted to
note on the topic of summer that there may be
a little background noise that normally isn't
there just because it is very hot where we are,
so the AC is pumping just a little bit, so you
might... Hear it kick on, kick off, but hopefully
you'll be patient with us. Normally we turn it
off, but it is just so hot right now that we
can't let the house boil up. So if you'll indulge
us, I'd appreciate it so much, but I think we
should just go ahead and get into it. We are
on a missing person case this week, and today
we are covering the missing person case of Garrett
Bardsley. And this takes place in the Unita Mountains
in Utah in August of 2004. But first, a little
bit about Garrett. Garrett Bardsley was just
12 years old when he disappeared. He had actually
turned 12 just a few weeks before our timeline
picks up. He lived with his family near Elk Ridge,
Utah, along a quiet rural road nestled between
Elk Ridge and Salem. Garrett was the youngest
of four siblings, and by all accounts, he was
a shy and timid boy, but one who carried himself
with a quiet kindness. His mother, Heidi, and
his father, Kevin, describe him as someone who
genuinely wanted to help others. Once, he even
suggested to his family that they sell the family
business so they could all live in tents and
help more people. Garrett was a part of the Church
of Latter -day Saints, and he looked forward
to being a missionary and helping serve others.
He was also a member of Boy Scout Troop 694.
It was sponsored by the Salem 8th Latter -day
Saint Ward. At the time he went missing, Garrett
is 5 feet tall, weighed about 115 pounds, and
had light brown hair and brown eyes. And now,
a timeline of events. Thursday, August 19, 2004.
That day, Garrett and his father, along with
17 other boys from Troop 694 and six adults,
were gearing up for a weekend camping trip in
the Unita Mountains. They planned on hiking into
the mountains for a few days and setting up camp
near Cuberant Lake. As I mentioned, six adult
leaders came along, and the plan was simple.
A quiet, pressure -free weekend before the boys
started school again. Garrett was due to start
middle school that following Wednesday. The troop
leaders didn't want the boys to worry about earning
merit badges. They truly wanted the weekend to
just be relaxing and spending time with each
other. This wasn't Garrett's first camping trip.
He had actually just returned from a week -long
outing where he had even earned his wilderness
survival merit badge. The boys and leaders hiked
into the mountains and set up camp near the lake,
about 10 ,000 feet above sea level, so they were
up in the mountains. The next day, Friday, August
20, 2004. That morning, Garrett and his dad headed
down to Cuberant Lake to fish. Around 8 a .m.,
Garrett slipped and stepped into the chilly water,
soaking his shoes, socks, and pants. At first,
he laughed when he got wet. But soon, the cold
got to him, and his father sent him back to the
camp to change into dry socks, shoes, and pants.
Garrett took his fishing pole and headed back
towards camp. He was last seen wearing a black
hooded sweatshirt, red sweatpants, t -shirt,
and Converse shoes. Kevin watched his son start
back towards the camp, keeping his eyes on him
as he made his way. The walk back to camp wasn't
too far. about 150 yards or 137 meters for our
overseas listeners. Kevin kept his eyes on Garrett
as he walked. He even yelled out to him once
when he started to veer off the path that would
get him towards camp. Kevin says, quote, as he
went around the lake, I watched him because that's
what fathers do. And then I watched him go off
into the trees. According to reports, something
at the lake grabbed Kevin's attention, so he
took his eyes off Garrett for a moment, and when
he looked back, his son had disappeared into
the trees. But Kevin wasn't panicked at this
point. He assumed he had just walked out of eyesight
towards the camp. About 15 minutes later, Kevin
returned to the camp as well and learned that
no one had seen his son. At first, he tried not
to panic. But quickly, the adults started searching.
Everyone in the camp assumed Garrett must be
close by. He would be able to hear them yelling,
or they would be able to see each other in the
distance. However, with each passing minute,
and with every yell that went unanswered, panic
settled over the Boy Scout troop. By 11 a .m.,
after nearly three hours of the Boy Scouts searching,
the Summit County Sheriff's Office was notified.
Rain and hail were moving into the area, so it
was difficult to start the search, but quickly,
police, search and rescue, and helicopters were
launched in the area. The helicopters were equipped
with infrared cameras to help aid in the search.
Professional search and rescuers showed up, and
they noted how easy it was to get turned around
in the area where Garrett was last seen. There
were no major landmarks, and everything kind
of looked the same. One official said it was
like the surface of the moon. The Boy Scout troop,
police, search and rescue, they searched all
day and into the evening. However, due to the
ruggedness of the area, when darkness fell, they
had to call the search off for the night. There
had been no sign of Garrett since he was last
seen walking away back to the camp. On Saturday,
August 21st, the next day, search efforts resumed
at first light. More crews arrived and volunteers
started arriving to help in the search. They
searched all day looking for a sign of Garrett.
But again, nothing was found. The search started
to get more intense and it was stressed how important
it was to find Garrett. Even though it was August
and the end of summer, the temperatures dropped
near freezing in the mountains. Garrett was not
dressed to handle that kind of weather, and he
didn't have any provisions with him. He didn't
have any food, he didn't have any water, and
he didn't have any extra clothing to help keep
him warm. Again, as night fell, the search was
called off. The next day, Sunday, August 22nd,
the search expanded to over 200 people and four
square miles from where Garrett was last seen.
Garrett's mother, Heidi, arrived at the mountain
to help the search. She had been on a cruise
with her parents, so it took some time to get
word to her, but she got there as soon as she
could. Years later, she'll say that when she
arrived at the mountain, she had a feeling that
she wouldn't be able to get Garrett out of there.
Again, helicopters were launched and they scanned
the area and search dogs scoured the woods. Sheriff
Dave Edmonds told reporters, quote, not even
a trace. The main concern now is we have to assume
we're searching for someone who is non -responsive.
Up until this point, searchers had been calling
and looking for Garrett, and there had been no
responses. The search area had been expanded
greatly from where Garrett was last seen, and
still no trace of him. Searchers are now focusing
on searching for an unresponsive person, taking
more care to check under brush and low to the
ground. Again that night, as the search was called
off, the temperatures dropped near freezing.
On Monday, August 23rd, as news continued to
spread about Garrett being missing, hundreds
of volunteers came out to help, including hunters
and even the Spanish Fork High School football
team, where Garrett's older brother played. By
the end of this day, 36 square miles had been
searched, and officials began preparing the family
for the worst. Still, the Bardsleys held on to
hope that they would find Garrett. and they would
be able to bring him off the mountain. The search
started to shift gears the next day, so this
is Tuesday, August 24th. Garrett has been missing
for four days now. The search turns more technical.
Crews checked dangerous ravines and cliffs while
rain and snow started to move in. However, that
day, a searcher spotted a Nike sock on a steep
boulder field about half a mile from where Garrett
was last seen. Sheriff Edmunds said it appeared
to have been wadded up after being removed from
a wet foot, which was consistent with what they
knew about Garrett, him having stepped into the
lake and gotten his socks and shoes wet. The
sock looked like Garrett's other socks. However,
it's never been confirmed if this truly was his
sock. On Wednesday, August 25th, Garrett has
been missing for five days. and Wednesday would
have been his first day of middle school. Garrett's
classmates were very aware of Garrett's absence
that day. Back on the mountain, the search continued
for days, starting at first light and wrapping
up when it got dark. Professional search and
rescue crews were working the rough terrain.
The search also changed gears with each passing
day. It became more of a recovery of a body than
finding a lost Boy Scout. By Sunday, August 29th,
Garrett had been missing for 10 days at this
point. The search is officially called off. Sheriff
Edmonds says, The Bardsleys were devastated that
there had been no sign of Garrett and that there
were so many unanswered questions. Kevin, Garrett's
dad, wanted to keep the search going until the
snow fell. Throughout all of fall of 2004, the
family organized private searches almost every
weekend until snow made it impossible. In November,
nearly three months after Garrett went missing,
they held a memorial service inviting community
and volunteers to remember Garrett. In December
of 2004, Garrett's school, family, and church
raised nearly $17 ,000 to build a school in his
name in Ecuador. a place he had dreamed of visiting
to help others. The Bardsleys also founded the
Garrett Bardsley Foundation, which was dedicated
to helping families find their missing loved
ones. In July of 2005, nearly a year after Garrett
disappeared, the family started to organize one
large -scale search, and they said this would
be the final one unless they found something
compelling on the mountain. Hundreds of volunteers
joined, combing the mountain for days, searching
for anything, clothing, a piece of his fishing
pole, any sign at all. But nothing conclusive
was ever found, and the Bardsleys officially
called off their search for Garrett. Over the
years, Garrett's case would come back into the
media, mostly when other people got lost in the
Unita Mountains. It's an area where others have
gotten lost, but Garrett... is rare in that he's
one of the only ones who has never been found.
Others have gotten lost and died on the mountain,
but their bodies were able to be recovered after
a season or two. However, no sign of Garrett
has ever been found. So with that, if you have
any information about Garrett Bardsley, or if
you find yourself hiking in the Unita Mountains
and find something unusual, Garrett's family
asked that you report it to the Summit County
Sheriff's Office at 435 -615 -3600. So that is
the missing person case of Garrett Bardsley.
When I first came across Garrett's case, you
know, I really couldn't help but think of another
case that we've actually covered here before
on the podcast. In episode 107, we cover the
missing person case of Jared Negrete. And he
was a 12 -year -old boy who went missing in mountains
in California, not Utah. But he was also a Boy
Scout and was also part of the Latter -day Saints
Church. So they are similar in some ways, but
obviously different in a lot of others. In Jared's
case, in case you need a refresher or maybe you
haven't listened to it, there was evidence found
of him. They found his camera and were able to
develop the photographs on the camera. And one
of the last photographs seemed to be a picture
of Jared himself. However, in this case, Garrett's
case, like I mentioned several times throughout
the timeline, no trace of him has ever been found.
No clothing, not the fishing pole he had, nothing.
For me, some of the questions that I had in this
case, you know, as I was reading through the
research, some of it was just like, how rugged
is it actually in the Unita Mountains? And, you
know, I have never seen a boulder field, you
know, in my life. So, you know, I started Googling
these pictures and the mountains and specifically
the Cuberant Basin, where Cuberant Lake is, where
Garrett was last seen. and it is very rugged
up there a lot of hikers a lot of the searchers
even commented on how easy it was to get turned
around there's not major landmarks and it does
seem like they were doing a little bit of like
off -trail camping and hiking so that also makes
it more difficult and it's very rugged terrain
out there it's very difficult to get around and
a boulder field I mean, it sounds exactly like
it, just a field full of rocks. It really does
kind of look like the surface of the moon, as
one of the searchers said that I mentioned in
the timeline. So it is very rugged, and it makes
sense then how someone could go missing in about
150 yards, even while his dad had his eyes on
him for a lot of the way. It does seem like there
was a very slim window. We know that Garrett's
dad, you know, walked back about 15 minutes after
him. So it's a small window where he got lost,
just very lost to the point where he couldn't
hear people when they called for him or see people
or find his camp. Some of the questions that
I have in this case, you know, if I could sit
down and just know anything and everything about
the case and ask all the questions of everyone
that was there. One thing I would want to know
is just was anybody else at the lake? Where were
everybody when Garrett went missing? So we know
Garrett and his dad, Kevin, they are at the lake.
But the Boy Scouts, there's, you know, about
16, 15 other kids. Where are they during this
time? Are they also fishing? Are they at the
camp? Are they doing other activities? Are they
hiking? You know, what's going on during this
time? Or maybe are they still sleeping? It was
around 8 a .m. Maybe Garrett and his dad, Kevin,
got up early to kind of go do this special on
their own. We also know that there were six adults
on the trip. So again, where were all the adults?
What were they doing? And what was happening?
Exactly. I would just love to know everyone's
whereabouts. It definitely seems like there were
people at the camp. We know this because when
Kevin arrives back at the campsite, he talks
to people and learns that they have not seen
Garrett. He hadn't come back through. So I know
there were some people there, but again, I just
wonder how many people were there. Did they see
anything? Did anybody see Garrett? I assume...
If anybody had seen anything, they have told
police this by now, but it's just, it's always
bewildering to me when somebody goes missing
in a very short distance and in a very short
amount of time, and there's no trace of them.
Like, this is truly like he vanished. I would
also be curious to know, just at that time, were
other people hiking or camping in the mountains,
rather? You know, outside of the Boy Scouts,
were... Was anybody else there in the woods that
they know of? They might not know. Really rugged
terrain. Somebody could have been there and got
out before they even knew anybody was missing.
But I would be curious to just know if there
were any other people there. And just what did
they hear? Did they hear the Boy Scouts? Could
you hear people up there? You know, that's something
I would be curious about. Like, does sound bounce
around and make it confusing where it's coming
from? Or can you... here long distances or does
the mountain break it up I don't know I didn't
grow up in mountains I've honestly never been
in the mountains at all so it's very like foreign
terrain to me it's very hard sometimes for me
to imagine what it's really like to be in a mountain
or a basin very interesting to me another thing
just to kind of mention about these mountains
and something that was kind of hard to wrap my
brain around I mentioned it at the top but it
is so hot right now where we are in the United
States. So hearing about this case happening
in late August, that's typically a pretty hot
time here in the States. So it's hard to imagine
an area where it gets near freezing when it's
where I'm sitting, it's 90 degrees. But when
I look at the unita mountains and just their
weather today like it drops down into the 40s
so it does get cold the weather there is another
factor in all of this we know that the day he
went missing rain came in hail came in and shortly
after snow started to fall so all of that really
made it difficult to find any sign of garrett
i really hope in this case that somebody comes
across some evidence of Garrett and the family
is able to get answers. I can't imagine what
it would feel like to have a loved one lost in
the wilderness, to kind of feel like you know
exactly where they should be, like he should
be right here, and just not being able to find
him, have hundreds of people and not be able
to find him in a very vast area, maddening that
it's like well he should be close by you know
when they first noticed he went missing it's
like he should be close by how far can you get
in 15 -20 minutes how far can someone get but
in these mountains again and again I saw reports
of other people going missing other boy scouts
went missing in this area so it is very common
for folks to go missing but like I said before
they are either found alive which was the case
with other boy scouts or their bodies do turn
up later but I hope in this case that the family
is able to get answers and closure or maybe closure
isn't quite the right word I don't know if something
like this ever closes in your life but just to
have those answers and To know where Garrett
is, you know, if they could bring him off the
mountain and lay him to rest somewhere where
they just know he is, you know, maybe that would
be like really special or meaningful. But his
family has done amazing things in his name. The
Garrett Bardsley Foundation was active up until
2019, but they were actively helping search for
missing people. They would show up, they would
help organize volunteers and help organize the
searches since they had so much experience. So
this family really gave a lot to others who have
been in this position. And, you know, I talked
about other Boy Scouts who went missing, but
they were part of the effort that found a Boy
Scout after four days in the mountains alone.
And just amazing, incredible work, incredible
advocacy work for missing people and really using
Garrett's name. You know, just the like unfortunate
life experience and knowledge to like help others
who are going through the same thing. And I think
that's a really beautiful thing to, you know,
turn pain into purpose almost. Like that's really
commendable. And it was so cool to see the efforts
that they did. So I hope the family is able to
continue to celebrate Garrett and honor his memory
in whatever way feels good for them. I do hope
that when somebody's up there camping, they come
across some evidence of Garrett that we can hand
his family and just give them a little piece
of him back. But again, if you know anything
about the disappearance of Garrett Bardsley in
August of 2004 or his whereabouts today, or if
you find yourself hiking in the Unitas Mountains
and see something unusual, please call the Summit
County Sheriff's Office at 435 -615 -3600. I
just wanted to take a quick second here at the
end of the episode, just if you're new here or,
you know, maybe if you've been a longtime listener
and you're just wondering why I picked Garrett's
case, since it doesn't kind of fall into, you
know, something nefarious necessarily happening.
Again, This is Cold and Missing. We cover cold
cases and missing people, and Garrett is a missing
person. So I wanted to keep his memory alive,
keep his name out there, and there's still closure
that's needed for this family. So by my definition,
it is absolutely a case that we should cover
here and that should get attention. He's a 12
-year -old boy that went missing who's never
come home. I'm always going to talk about those
cases. I just wanted to mention that in case
you're new and kind of wondering what the vibe
is I know there's not necessarily a crime element
that happened here but I think all missing people
deserve coverage even if there isn't you know
a crime attached to their disappearance I think
they deserve. to be talked about and to be looked
after and to be looked for. So that is why we
covered Garrett's case. We will have his picture
up on our Instagram at coldandmissing. So if
you're not, please follow us there. We post about
active missing person cases going on. And also
if we need to take a week off, we always post
on there that we're taking the week off and when
you can expect to hear from us again. So follow
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like that. I know sometimes the automatic transcripts
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transcripts, if you or someone you love is hard
of hearing, you can find them at coldandmissing
.com. But that is all I have for you this week.
Thank you so much for sticking with Cold and
Missing, for coming back even though we've taken
several weeks off. I appreciate you coming back,
of being a part of your week. It really means
so much. So thank you for listening. Have a great
week and stay safe, y 'all.