Police reveal new casework on Tempe geologist who went missing June 2021

Jose R. Gonzalez, Arizona Republic
·2 min read
16
Daniel Robinson, 24, was last seen June 23, 2021, driving west from his work site in an area west of Sun Valley Parkway and north of Cactus Road in Buckeye.
Daniel Robinson, 24, was last seen June 23, 2021, driving west from his work site in an area west of Sun Valley Parkway and north of Cactus Road in Buckeye.

It's been two years since Phoenix-area geologist Daniel Robinson went missing and authorities released an update Wednesday on the work that’s been done in the investigation into his disappearance.

The 24-year-old Tempe resident was last seen June 23, 2021 as he left his Buckeye desert worksite while employed for engineering company Matrix New World. Investigators reported that Robinson's Jeep Renegade had crashed after having been recovered in the desert near Buckeye.

Robinson's father, David Robinson, has said his son went missing under suspicious circumstances even as the Buckeye Police Department previously ruled out the possibility of foul play.

Missing kids: 3 missing children last seen in Mesa found safe

Now, Buckeye police have announced detectives uncovered location data in the missing man's cell phone that places the device at the crash site on the morning he disappeared. Daniel Robinson's other electronic devices underwent forensic analysis but did not reveal information that could help locate him, though detectives will further analyze their raw data, the department said.

Additionally, police said they have provided a case briefing – its second such briefing – for the incoming special agent in charge at the FBI Phoenix field office.

Finally, police said they investigated a sighting on Robinson. A person reported briefly encountering the geologist in the Hassayampa River bottom on the day he went missing, according to police. Digital evidence from Robinson's vehicle systems and electronic devices do not match the information given in the reported sighting, police noted.

Daniel Robinson was thought to have been heading south into the desert on the day he disappeared, according to police.

Buckeye police previously said the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office joined them in a search for Robinson on Feb. 18, but did not find any new information relevant to the case. A week later, Robinson's family conducted a public search.Police had determined Daniel Robinson's car rolled over in a ravine, but a private investigator hired by David Robinson said that would have been impossible. The investigator told The Arizona Republic that he thought the crash was staged.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Police reveal new casework on Tempe geologist who went missing in 2021