08-08-2025
Girl, 14, vanishes during family camping trip to ultra-remote beauty spot
Crews are searching for a 14-year-old girl who disappeared Thursday from a remote area in the Utah mountains where she had been camping with her family.
Maya Suisse was last seen at 10am Thursday in the Uinta Mountains, a vast range in northeastern Utah that extends slightly into Colorado and Wyoming.
The teenager had been staying at a campsite with her family, but vanished after she left on her own to use the bathroom, police said.
She was last seen in the in the Painter Basin area near Kidney Lakes, according to the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office.
She was wearing a pink hooded sweatshirt and gray capri pants.
Maya's sister, Brittany Suisse, described the missing teen as a fairly experienced backpacker, KUTV reported.
Search-and-rescue crews began searching the area on foot, horseback and via helicopter.
'They wonder if she's possibly okay and just going in circles, which is why they haven't been able to find her,' Brittany told KUTV.
'They haven't found any signs of her yet, to my knowledge. They are optimistic that they will find her.'
Capt. John Crowley of the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office said the best way to search such a remote area is to 'ride it out and hope for the best.'
Brittany said she asked the sheriff's office how often they are unable to locate missing people, and they responded that it was uncommon.
'That made us feel better about the situation,' she told KUTV. 'Still not great. She's been missing for almost a full day now.'
Brittany wrote in a Facebook post that search crews do not want additional help, 'but that may change.'
'If you are willing to be on standby, please let me know,' she said.
Her Facebook post has been flooded with supportive messages and shared over 175 times.
In its Friday statement, the sheriff's office said that search teams 'remain on site and are expanding efforts on the ground and by air as conditions allow.'
