‘It’s like he’s a ghost’: Search on after Rock Springs college student vanishes

Law enforcement and the family of a Rock Springs college student missing for two months are asking for the public’s help in locating him. Steven Sanches, 29, was last seen leaving Western Wyoming Community College around noon on Thursday, Feb. 5. He did not return to campus that afternoon nor go home that evening, and none of his friends or family have seen or heard from him since.

“It’s like he’s a ghost,” longtime friend J.D. Cole said about the lack of leads into what may have happened to Sanches. His family does not believe Sanches willingly left on his own volition, nor do they think he would have stayed out of contact for this long, and they fear for his safety. The Rock Springs Police Department said it has investigated all tips and leads and is calling on the public’s help. There have been no confirmed sightings of Sanches after Feb. 5, and the desert area surrounding the campus has been searched by drone.

Locating him through his cellphone has also proved futile. The phone goes straight to voicemail and is either powered off or dead. The RSPD has attempted to ping the phone with no luck. With no phone activity, authorities were alerted that one of Sanches’ Facebook accounts had been active in recent weeks. It’s not known if Sanches was the person actually using that account, but police are in the process of obtaining a warrant to access it.

Cole received a frantic call from Sanches’ fiancée the morning of Feb. 6 and immediately called police. He said things were going well for Sanches, who was in his first semester of school and was happy with his college classes and his life. Cole said video surveillance shows Sanches walking away from campus about 12:15 p.m. that day. He wasn’t caught on any other cameras. Some people reported to police that Sanches was spotted getting into a white, four-door sedan with a black bumper, though police have not been able to confirm this.

Sanches’ last call on Feb. 5 was to his fiancée about 11:30 a.m. During that call, he spoke about possibly taking a trip with friends to a family cabin in Colorado the next day. He said it was the anniversary of his father’s death and he wanted to mark that day with a visit to the Rocky Mountains. However, after checking with several family members, none knew of any such cabin. Sanches does not have a car and walks everywhere, but Cole believes he would have accepted a ride from someone he knew.

His mother, Stephanie Sanches, said there was nothing out of the ordinary about his behavior on that last day. He had called her fiancé that morning excited about a video game tournament on campus. He sent her a funny reel on Facebook at about 10:15 a.m. and texted back and forth with his sister, who said everything seemed fine. “He acted normal when we texted that day,” she said.

Sanches is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighing about 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing brown pants and a green sweatshirt, and wears glasses with camouflage-print rims. He has an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, so he frequently wears hats. He also has tattoos, including three on his upper left chest containing dates of deaths of family members and friends. Anyone with information is asked to call the Rock Springs Police Department at 307-362-6575 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at 307-777-7181.