Wyoming man missing since 1999

Tracy Jensen has been missing from Big Piney for 27 years. The 23-year-old man left his sister's house in February 1999 and never returned. He took his 1981 blue Subaru with him. The vehicle and the driver have not been located since that day. Residents of Sublette County know the case well, though the details remain largely the same as when the search began.

Jensen was staying with his older sister, Brenda Dellinger, when he disappeared. He was recovering from a second divorce and working at Gordon’s Corner in Marbleton. On the evening of Feb. 11, 1999, Jensen stopped by work to ask his boss for travel money. He received $300 in cash. He left his dog and personal belongings at his sister’s home. Dellinger reported him missing on Feb. 14, 1999.

Sheriff K.C. Lehr said the search remains active. Lehr told Cowboy State Daily that the case feels like the man disappeared off the face of the earth. The sheriff’s office checks Jensen’s Social Security number and financial records every year. They also look for activity related to his vehicle. No digital trace has appeared in the decades since his disappearance. Lehr said it would be nice to have some closure for the family.

Jensen’s ex-wife, Aimee White, lives in Rock Springs. She and Jensen were married for a few years and have a daughter, Raquel. White said Jensen was a loving father and a good provider. He worked on a seismograph crew in Rock Springs and Utah. White described him as a quirky outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing and scuba diving. She said he loved British humor and the band Judas Priest. White does not want his life to fade from memory.

White said she would prefer to believe Jensen is still alive. However, she finds it unlikely given his devotion to his family. She said she cannot imagine him abandoning his child for so many years. The family declared Jensen legally dead around 2010. This step allowed their daughter to qualify for Social Security benefits. They held a memorial at the home of Jensen’s father, Earl Jensen, after the declaration.

Investigators pursued numerous leads over the years. In November 2001, a hit on Jensen’s Social Security number traced to a driver’s license in Washington under the name Miltenberger. The number was off by a single digit. In August 2003, a tip from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation led deputies to a Tracy Jensen in Iowa. That man was 42 years old, which did not match the age of the missing resident. Authorities have tracked at least 20 men named Tracy Jensen across multiple states. None matched the details of the man from Big Piney.

Theories about the disappearance vary. Earl Jensen suggested his son might have driven the car into Fontenelle Lake or Flaming Gorge Reservoir. He based this on a comment his son made about being buried at sea. Jensen’s counselor at the time disagreed with the suicide theory. She suggested he might have chosen to disappear and start over. Dellinger said she does not believe her brother would have driven the car into water on purpose.

Lehr said the possibility of an accident is a hypothetical the office has pondered for years. It is possible he drove off a cliff into Fontenelle Reservoir. The lake covers 8,000 acres on the Green River in southwest Wyoming. No vehicle matching Jensen’s description has been reported found. Lehr noted that side-scan sonar and other underwater technology could help locate a vehicle if it is in the water. The office has also searched Mexico and coordinated with Canadian authorities. Both searches turned up nothing.

The Sublette County Sheriff’s Office collected DNA samples from Dellinger and Jensen’s mother. They prepared for the possibility that remains might be found. The FBI was involved in collecting these samples. The case file notes that investigators checked for changes of address and bank activity. There has been no match in state or federal databases since the initial years of the search.