On Tuesday, September 10, 2019, Barnhill told his live-in girlfriend he was going to run errands. He sent several text messages after leaving the house but never returned. His girlfriend reported him missing on Thursday, September 12, 2019. His truck was located on Casper Mountain off the roadway on Saturday, September 14, 2019. The vehicle was well off the roadway and had clearly been driven through brush to arrive at its location. The area is sparsely populated and surrounded by BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and private property.