ABC4 Utah

Missing in Utah: The search for Shane Strong takes to the water

OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) – The search for Shane Strong intensified when a national dive team joined the hunt this week.

It was nearly a year ago that Strong disappeared in Ogden.

To date, publicity about his disappearance has gone nowhere. However, it has received the attention of Adventures with Purpose, an Oregon based diving team.

“We’ve been in the Ogden area searching for 48-year-old Shane Strong,” said Doug Bishop, a member of the diving team. “He vanished last November, almost a year. Now there’s no trace of Shane and his 1977 Impala.”

In June, ABC4 first reported Strong’s disappearance in an episode of Missing in Utah.

“The last time he was seen was about November 17 and it was with me and two of my uncles,” said his son, Shane Strong Jr. “He left and I never seen him again.”

A video they shared of their father was taken at a restaurant where they shared dinner.

“It wasn’t the last time I seen him but it was one of the last times that we had a dinner together, and like, got to talk,” said Justice Strong.

Last November, their father got into his 1977 orange Impala, drove from 37th Street in South Ogden and headed to a place where he was residing in Ogden. He was never seen again.

“That’s what’s concerning me,” said Strong Jr. “Everybody knows him because of that car and no one can find the car.

Adventures with Purpose has been in Utah before. A year ago, the divers were conducting an underwater search at the East Canyon Reservoir that borders Morgan and Summit Counties. They were searching for two missing teens who disappeared in 1985. The search failed to find any trace of the vehicle they were in.

Last month, Adventures with a Purpose found the body of Keily Rodni in a reservoir in California. Rodni disappeared August 5 after leaving a party.  The volunteer divers were called in to help and within hours found her vehicle. She was later identified.

Adventures with Purpose was notified by law enforcement in Weber County, and Bishop said they have spoken to Strong’s family. The expert divers were at the Causey Reservoir Tuesday using sonars as they searched for Strong’s vehicle.

“We are using two different systems all together,” Bishop said in a video they released to ABC4. “We have a down imaging as well as the side scan and the live stills. We’re getting some really good imaging here of this reservoir.”

Late Monday, the divers got a signal indicating a vehicle was submerged while searching at Pineview Reservoir.  They found two vehicles but neither one belonged to Strong.

“We found two vehicles yesterday that were stolen,” said Bishop. “We were able to take them out of Pineview. It helps the watershed.”

After spending two days at both reservoirs, Willard Bay and the 21 Pond in Ogden, the team ended their search.  They never found a trace of Strong’s vehicle.

They still hope their efforts helped law enforcement who were also present.

“Just because we’re out here searching doesn’t mean Shane Strong and his vehicle are underwater,” said Bishop. “What we’re trying to do at the very least is to rule out locations where Shane is not, and that in itself is a success.”

To date, Adventures with a Purpose have cracked 23 cold cases in the three years of their existence.

They hope their search raises awareness, and perhaps someone with information will come forward. Anyone with information is urged to contact Ogden Police.