Montrose - Daily Press

OLATHE �” A massive search Saturday for missing Montrose man Abade “Abe” Martinez turned up no leads.

It wasn’t for lack of trying �” the sheriff reports more than 100 people came out to wade canals and walk the fields in a radius from the home where Martinez, 52, was last seen in August. It wasn’t for lack of hope �” several searchers were Martinez’s family members, who have been frantically trying to find him for the past three months.

“It’s mind-boggling,” Martinez’s sister, Victoria, said Monday. “You’re not real sure how to feel.”

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She said the family was “very disappointed” by the lack of results, but also very grateful for everyone’s help. The Martinezes plan to formally thank the community at a later date, she said.

“The communities of Montrose and Olathe were amazing,” Victoria Martinez said.

Montrose County Sheriff Rick Dunlap confirmed that nothing was found, not even by search dogs brought in Thursday and Friday, in advance of Saturday’s search.

“The dogs weren’t able to locate anything, but we went ahead with the search because there are just some areas that were just inaccessible prior to this,” he said. “We wanted to ensure that we covered everything.”

Martinez was last seen at a brother’s home on 58.25 Road in Olathe. The home is less than a mile from nearby canals, which only recently had their water turned out for the year. Sheriff’s investigators planned a walking search of the canals for Saturday, because the water had receded.

Deputies, sheriff’s posse members, volunteers and the Martinez family walked for miles along and in the canals; through fields and along the railroad tracks hoping for a clue that would lead them to Abe, or offer an inkling as to his fate.

“I can’t thank those people enough,” Dunlap said of searchers and area businesses that donated to the search efforts. “What they did is highly appreciated. When the need is there, Montrose and Olathe rise to the occasion.”

The investigation’s next step depends on the sheriff’s office receiving information about where Abe Martinez could be.

“The case will remain active, but we’ve exhausted just about all our options. Any leads will be followed and examined thoroughly. I would like to encourage anyone with any information to please call the sheriff’s office (970-252-4010) and let us know,” Dunlap said. “We were really hoping for some type of closure, but it didn’t materialize. ... It’s not going to go in a file somewhere and be forgotten.”

Abe Martinez is 5-feet, 7-inches tall, 130 pounds, dark hair with salt-and-pepper highlights, was clean shaven at the time of his disappearance, and has brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, but left his hat and cigarettes behind at his brother’s home.

Contact the MCSO at 252-4010, or your nearest law enforcement agency with any information.

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