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The Washington County sheriff's office announces Tuesday that a man thought to have disappeared while hiking in southwest Utah has been traced to Australia. Bryan Butas, 35, planned to go hiking alone July 30 near Leeds. The following day, his car was found near the Oak Grove campground in Dixie National Forest. Sheriff Kirk Smith says investigators found Butas had purchased a plane ticket on July 20 and flew from Los Angeles to New Zealand and then to Sydney on Aug. 2. He was then traced to Cairns, Queensland. Butas has not been arrested, as he has committed no crime, but a civil action may be filed to get him to pay the costs of the search and investigation. A preliminary estimate says about $20,000 was spent on the search. Butas' wife and three kids recently moved to Ohio, where he planned to join them in December. |
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