The Mysterious Disappearance of Daniel Robinson

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Daniel Robinson was last seen leaving his worksite in the charred deserts of Buckeye, Arizona, in a Jeep Renegade. This worksite was in the Sonoran Desert, a barren stretch of land cut by the Hassayampa River and littered with ravines. What began as a routine day at the worksite turned into the start of a mystery. On June 23, 2021, the geologist Daniel Robinson was reported missing by his father. The search began on this scorched part of the Earth, with not only police but volunteers and family taking part in the search for Daniel. 

Robinson was 24 years old when he was last seen leaving that worksite. He had been sent by his employer, Matrix New World Engineering. Robinson was sent to the worksite to measure groundwater levels, which was one of his duties as the hired geologist for the company. This was his first professional job in the field. The company was in Arizona, having Robinson move from South Carolina in 2019. Robinson had graduated from the College of Charleston three years prior with a degree in geology and moved to Tempe, Arizona, and worked for Matrix New World until his disappearance. Robinson was last seen leaving that worksite in his 2017 blue Jeep Renegade by his coworker Kenneth Elliot, who was working at the same well site. Elliot, the pump technician, told officers Robinson seemed disconnected when talking to Elliot before leaving the site.

Elliot last saw Robinson around 9 a.m.  on June 23, 2021, after finishing his job at the worksite and leaving in his Jeep. Before leaving the worksite, Robinson had asked Elliot if he wanted to go back to Phoenix, but before the conversation could continue, Robinson waved goodbye to Elliot before leaving. When Robinson had been gone for some time, Elliot began calling coworkers wondering if Robinson was with them, but no one had seen him. Elliot then called Robinson's father, David, and informed him that he could not find his son. During an interview on The Original Sin Podcast, David discussed that his daughter lived in Phoenix, Arizona, so he sent her to Daniel’s apartment. She noticed that no one had been there. This would be the start of concern for the family. On our podcast David said, “Looking at the time difference, three hours between South Carolina and Arizona, and the last time anyone saw him, that’s when I called the police and began a report.” After David’s phone call with Elliot, David called the Buckeye Police Department to report the disappearance, making it an official missing person’s case. 

When the police were notified, they quickly went through both land and air with the use of helicopters and drones. There was no apparent signs of Robinson or his Jeep. It was not until July 19, 2021, that a rancher found Robinson's Jeep rolled over on its side after falling into a ravine on his property. This became a part of the case that would have the father thinking foul play could be lingering somewhere, while the officers of Buckeye claimed there was no evidence of foul play at the scene. 

Once the investigation began, the police questioned family, friends, and coworkers while looking for any sign of Robinson in the Sonoran desert. David hired Private Investigator Jeff McGrath of 3 Laws Recon Investigations to conduct their own independent investigation. During the questioning, Robinson's family reported he had been acting "a little off" but was nothing worth noting or being concerned about, as he still went to work. The day before he went missing, coworkers and friends told investigators that Robinson was quieter than usual but was still functioning normally. Elliot told a reporter for The Independent, "He was just looking off into the desert; he had a very, very distant look in his eyes." He then discussed the last moment he saw Robinson. "He just turned around and walked back over to his Jeep, and I just assumed he was going to get something out of his vehicle. And he opened the door, got in, sat down, put on his seatbelt, then he looked at me and just waved at me and backed up and took off." That was the last reported sighting of Robinson and his Jeep until the car was found crashed in the ravine. 

During the investigation of the scene, David hired accident reconstructors and had McGrath conduct an independent investigation alongside the police officers. The investigations pointed out that the car's airbags had been fully deployed. McGrath also analyzed the vehicle's black box, which records the last few moments before the crash. McGrath reported that after the airbags were deployed, someone had turned the key in the ignition at least 46 times. McGrath told 12 News, "That's not normal, we usually see one or two because it adds one when we download the box." McGrath noted that the car had recorded being driven another 11 miles after the airbags deployed. On our podcast David discussed that McGrath interviewed the rancher who had told the PI that the car was not there two days prior when the rancher was looking for cattle in the same location the car was found two days later. The detectives searched the car and found Robinson's belongings, such as clothes, his cell phone, wallet, and key. The police detectives do not suspect foul play, though McGrath found more evidence in the AGM system that showed the car had been in a collision four hours after Robinson was last seen at around 1 P.M. Currently, McGrath suspects mental health as the main culprit instead of foul play. The search began in the days following the discovery of the Jeep with a grid covering the surrounding area.

During the beginning of the search, the Buckeye police searched alone by foot and air using helicopters and dogs. David tried to collaborate with the authorities and asked if he could go to Arizona to assist in the search for his son. The police declined his offer at first. When he called for an update, they had him hang up the phone and told him to call back after two hours. David was quoted in an article on Fox News, "I kind of lost it, which prompted me to grab everything I could, throw it in my car, and start driving to go find Daniel myself." David drove 2,000 miles from Columbia, South Carolina, to Arizona. The authorities tried to give David some explanation to help ease a father's sorrow. This only had him spend resources on meaningless leads. David told Fox News, "When [police] said, 'Hey, your son joined the monastery and became a monk,' I had to go look for monasteries. I had to go and check that out. [It was] a waste of a lot of money, a lot of energy." David found that the community would be his strongest resource. Besides the monastery story, police also believed Daniel could have suffered a head injury and one of the effects is a felt spike in bodily temperature which could have caused him to strip his clothes and lay under a bush where an animal may have attacked him. The search was joined by 75-200 volunteers who came together to scour a grid set up to find Robinson. During the following four years, the search party using cadaver dogs found remains scattered in the desert. After checking with forensics, none of them were confirmed as Robinson's remains. The Buckeye PD had a new team and detectives on the case that David would say felt like a reset in their pursuit of his son.

During our interview with David, he shared his thoughts on his son’s case. He discussed the ideas that his own investigation brought to his attention. There was supposedly someone Daniel was supposed to meet from Weber Water Works, which David thought was where his son had gone initially. One of Daniel’s coworkers had gone to his sister’s house, asking if Daniel was there. When David found out, he asked his daughter to check on his apartment to see if his son was there. His daughter reported that there was no sign that Daniel was at his apartment. When requesting a welfare check by the Buckeye police, they reportedly only drove by the apartment instead of stopping and executing a proper welfare check, which includes checking the domicile of the individual. While the police investigated the car crash, David claimed, they found clothes in a pile; however, the police have not conducted a complete forensic examination of the car or the clothes as of the time of writing this article. Most were a swab of the steering wheel and shifter, though the father is still requesting a much more thorough inspection. There were rumors that Daniel may have run away with a woman he had recently been talking to, although the father mentioned the two-hour phone calls he had with his son daily, during which the word 'love' was never used. The woman willingly submitted the text messages, and there was no evidence of a plan for running away. The father’s leading theory is that Daniel could have been attacked, lost in the desert, or possibly abducted by the number of mules or human traffickers that pollute the desert.

On April 12, 2025, David led 50 groups to search the area for Robinson. He claimed that his military background allowed him to see this as an objective that must be completed. David has also announced a $10,000 award for the discovery of his son. He also started the website PleaseHelpFindDaniel.com that acts as a hub to set up search parties and any updates to the case. David has spearheaded efforts in politics to help find future missing people. While running for a seat in South Carolina's Second Congressional District, aiming to create federal standards focused on law enforcement's response to missing persons reports. On the podcast David states, “I have become hindered because law enforcement refuses to call Daniel case what it is, a criminal case.” Where he claimed that if re-classified as a criminal case the case would be given more resources that he believes would improve the chances of finding his son. A candlelit vigil was set up for Robinson on June 28 at the South Carolina state capitol. Daniel Robinson is described as a 5'8 black man weighing 165 pounds. He has black hair and brown eyes and is missing part of his right forearm from a birth condition that never slowed him down. His father carves through a savage desert in pursuit of holding his son once more.  

 Blog written by: Joseph Gil