Law enforcement and the family of a Rock Springs college student missing for two months are asking for the public’s help in locating him.
Steven Sanches, 29, was last seen leaving Western Wyoming Community College around noon on Thursday, Feb. 5.
He did not return to campus that afternoon nor go home that evening, and none of his friends or family have seen or heard from him since.
“It’s like he’s a ghost,” longtime friend J.D. Cole said about the lack of leads into what may have happened to Sanches.
His family does not believe Sanches willingly left on his own volition, nor do they think he would have stayed out of contact for this long, and they fear for his safety.
The Rock Springs Police Department (RSPD) said it has investigated all tips and leads into the man’s disappearance and is calling on the public’s help.
So far, there’s no indication to suggest that Sanches is a victim of foul play, according to Elizabeth Coontz, records supervisor and public information officer for the department, but the investigation is ongoing.
There have been no confirmed sightings of Sanches after Feb. 5, Coontz said, noting that the desert area surrounding the college campus has been searched by drone.
“All tips to date have been followed up on, with no further information or location developed,” she said in an email.
Cellphone Dead
Likewise, locating him through his cellphone has also proved futile. The phone goes straight to voicemail and is either powered off or dead.
The RSPD has attempted to ping the phone with no luck, Coontz said, but those efforts are ongoing in conjunction with his phone carrier.
With no phone activity, authorities were alerted to the fact that one of Sanches’ Facebook social media accounts had been active in recent weeks.
It’s not known if Sanches was the person actually using that account, but police are in the process of obtaining a warrant to access it, Coontz said.
“The fact that he has multiple accounts makes the process a bit more difficult,” she added.
In the meantime, Sanches has remained silent, which his friends and family say is very uncharacteristic for him, according to his mother, Stephanie Sanches.
First 48 Hours
Cole considers Sanches to be like a brother, and said he was shocked when he learned that his longtime friend was missing.
He received a frantic call from Sanches’ fiancée the morning of Feb. 6 and immediately called police to report him missing around 9 a.m.
He said he watches true crime shows and knows the first 48-72 hours are critical to finding a person alive and that he didn’t want to waste any time.
Knowing his friend as well as he does, the fact that he did not return home that evening after leaving campus was completely out of character for Sanches.
The fact that his friend has not been in contact with him or Sanches’ family raises red flags for Cole, because Sanches was always on his phone with them.
Cole believes that something or someone harmed him because he is convinced his friend would not have willingly left on his own without contacting somebody. Nor does he believe Sanches had any cause to harm himself.
Cole said that things were going well for Sanches and he was in his first semester of school.
The college registrar confirmed Sanches was registered as a student for the Spring 2026 semester.
“He was in a great place and was happy with his college classes and his life,” Cole said.
Mysterious Clues
Cole said video surveillance shared with the family shows Sanches walking away from campus about 12:15 p.m. that day. He wasn’t caught on any other cameras.
Some people reported to police that Sanches was spotted getting into a white, four-door sedan with a black bumper, though police have not been able to confirm this is true nor do they know who the vehicle might belong to, according to Coontz.
Cole also does not know anyone who drives a car of that description nor does Sanches’ sister, Jesi Sanches. Neither had met any of his new friends from school, both said.
Sanches does not have a car and walks everywhere, Cole said, but he would have accepted a ride from someone he knew.
Cole said that Sanches’ last call on Feb. 5 was to his fiancée about 11:30 a.m., which lasted for about 30 minutes.
During this call, the fiancée told Cole that Sanches had spoken to her about possibly taking a trip with friends to a family cabin in Colorado the next day.
Sanches reportedly told her that it was the anniversary of his father’s death and he wanted to mark that day with a visit to the Rocky Mountains to honor his dad’s memory.
The idea of the trip did not strike Cole as odd because it seemed like something Sanches would do, except for the cabin.
This was the first he’d heard of a cabin, and after checking with several of Sanches’ family members, all said that no such cabin exists.
“I have been in contact with every family member between here and the Mississippi and every one of them says, ‘No, it doesn’t exist,’” Cole said.
Cabin or no cabin, if Sanches had gone to Colorado, Cole feels he would not have attempted to walk or hitchhike.
“He doesn’t get into vehicles with people he doesn’t know,” Cole said. “He grew up in the same era that I did, and ‘stranger danger’ was a really big thing when we were kids.”
And though Sanches is an avid outdoorsman with keen survival skills, Cole said that he would never go off the grid without letting someone know.
“My brother, he told me everything,” Cole said of Sanches. "I was always his first phone call.”
Timeline
His mother Stephanie also did not know about a cabin and agrees with Cole that even if Sanches had gone to Colorado for any reason, there’s no way he would have gone this long without contacting one of them.
“Family is everything to Steven,” she said.
Like Cole, she said that her son was doing well and wouldn’t have just disappeared on his own.
Stephanie also said there was nothing out of the ordinary about his behavior on that last day that she noticed.
She said Sanches had called her fiancé in Nebraska, William, at 8:52 a.m. that morning. It was a normal call in which her son excitedly talked about a “Call of Duty” video game tournament on campus that morning.
He’s an avid video game player and was looking forward to participating.
Sanches enjoyed sending her and other family members funny reels on Facebook nearly every day. True to form, he’d sent her one at about 10:15 that morning.
He texted back and forth with Jesi, who also said that everything seemed fine.
“He acted normal when we texted that day,” Jesi told Cowboy State Daily.
Life On Track
The silence is what strikes them all as strange.
Sanches always had his phone with him, Stephanie said, and was in constant contact with all of them. He used his phone for everything, including cash apps for banking.
Like Cole, Stephanie said it seemed that things were going well in Sanches’ life and he was excited for his future.
His life was on track, she said.
“I’m very proud of him for going back to school and doing that,” she said.
When she learned he was missing, Stephanie said she immediately left work and drove the 70-plus miles from Fort Bridger, where she lives, to Rock Springs.
She then drove around town with Cole looking for any trace of her son.
So far, there’s been none as the family tries to remain optimistic that he’s out there somewhere unharmed.
Ghost
Cole, however, has his doubts.
He said he knows his “brother” well, and there’s no way he would not have been in touch with him under any circumstance, let alone for two months.
He was always on his phone, Cole reiterated.
“And it just stopped,” Cole said. “It's like he’s a ghost. Someone snapped their fingers with the Infinity Gauntlet, and he just disappeared.”
He further believes that he may have been a victim of foul play and has his suspicions of who might be involved, which he said he has shared with law enforcement.
Sanches’ cousin, Kassi Carr, also believes that something has happened to him and that he’s likely no longer alive.
They two are very close, Carr said.
“It’s not like Steven to not tell me where he went or anything, so it’s very odd that all of a sudden he’s gone,” she said.
Just Want Answers
Cole, like the rest of the Sanches family, just wants answers and for him to be found, whether he’s still alive or not.
Cole got emotional when he spoke about how much Sanches means to him and how desperate he is to get word out that his friend is missing.
“I will drop dead for this boy,” he said. “I would do anything for him.”
Stephanie is also trying to remain hopeful that law enforcement will find her son. She describes him as a wonderful person who is sentimental and kind.
“He’s a great guy who would give you the shirt off of his back,” she said, “and I just want him home, no matter what.”
Jesi, too, has warm sentiments for her brother as she tries to keep hope alive.
“My brother is great and I miss him and hope people know that he is loved and appreciated and definitely missed,” she said.
Steven Sanches is described as standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing about 145 pounds.
He was last seen wearing brown pants and a green sweatshirt, and wears glasses with camouflage-print rims that he is required to wear to see.
He also has an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, so he frequently wears hats.
He also has tattoos, including three on his upper left chest containing dates of the deaths of family members and friends.
Anyone with information about Sanches’ whereabouts is asked to call the Rock Springs Police Department at 307-362-6575.
Tips can also be submitted to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at 307-777-7181 or submitted anonymously online on DCI’s website.
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
