CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — The search for a former College of Charleston student presses on. Daniel Robinson disappeared in Arizona back in June. His case has received renewed interest following the search for Gabby Petito.
The Columbia, South Carolina native was last seen on June 23 leaving a job site in Buckeye Arizona. Robinson’s vehicle was found badly damaged in a ravine several weeks later, according to authorities. Three months later. there’s still no sign of the 24-year-old geologist.
A few clues have turned up since then and his family now has a private investigator looking into the case.
“I want to believe that somehow in a miracle way my son somehow escaped and he’s out there and the only thing we need to do is find him,” said David Robinson, Daniel’s father.
Robinson said police told him they do not suspect foul play but said the family’s private investigator has uncovered evidence that suggests otherwise. He said the black box from his son’s vehicle shows there were multiple crashes and after the initial crash, the Jeep was driven for several miles and the ignition cranked at least 40 times.
'Of course, I’m trying to keep the faith up to this point and it starts to tear at the faith,' Robinson said.
“You start to think all kinds of things especially with the evidence of the sock or vehicle cranked after the crash, you know, the vehicle being a staged event. It was placed where it was located, those kinds of things would make you think of foul play," Robinson said.
Robinson feels Buckeye Police have given up on the case.
He started an online petition urging them to take a closer look and as of Wednesday, it had more than 16,000 signatures.
He said his heart goes out to Gabby Petito’s family and hopes her story will bring awareness to other missing persons cases around the country and the need for them to be taken seriously from the start.
“Things like that are scary for me as a father, you know, to say ‘Hey it’s been three months. What if it’s three years? That’s a problem and I can’t understand why in my particular case why my son’s case, the urgency is not there,” he said. “If you take a person serious from the beginning and actually do the work, get out there like in my son’s case, go put the helicopter up there, don’t wait three days later, put a helicopter in the air immediately.”
Buckeye Police said they’ve worked with several agencies and have searched 70 square miles in an effort to locate Daniel, adding they continue to explore leads and urge anyone with information to come forward.
Daniel Robinson studied geology at the College of Charleston. On Wednesday, the school released the following statement:
“Our hearts go out to Daniel’s family and friends as they search for him and for information surrounding his disappearance. The College of Charleston community is one big family, with alumni around the globe. It’s apparent that Daniel was proud of his time at CofC and that he was passionate about his career as a geologist. We will continue to keep Daniel and his family in our thoughts and prayers. We urge anyone with information about his disappearance to contact authorities immediately.”