TOOELE, Utah — It has been nearly two years since a Tooele man with type 1 diabetes went missing after unexpectedly leaving home in June 2021. Despite search efforts by family, community members and law enforcement, 32-year old Rick Morris has never been found.
Fast forward two years and police say the case has gone cold.
Even now, Mariah Morris can't help but smile when describing her younger brother.
"He'd give a stranger the shirt off of his back," she said.
However, that smile quickly turns to sadness.
"it's hard to sleep, like you feel guilty if you're doing something for yourself but not like looking for him," she explained.
Mariah says her brother went for a walk in the early morning hours because walking at night was something he enjoyed. While it wasn't out of the norm, it was around 2:30 a.m. in the area of 770 West 700 South in Tooele that family members noticed Morris was gone and hasn't been seen since.
Morris' sister said Rick suffered a seizure just a few hours before leaving, but he was able to get his blood sugar back up. He had just gotten insulin days prior and his full vial was still in his refrigerator.
"Everything that he would normally take if he was leaving was at his house," Mariah said.
The family, along with community members and Tooele City Police Department, have spent the past 22 months trying to find Morris.
"We've had the Department of Public Safety, all the agencies here in Tooele County, we've had, Salt Lake units come out, we've had a helicopter, aerial search drone searches," explained Cpl. Colbey Bentley with Tooele police.
So far, everything has up empty despite sorting through hundreds of tips and leads.
"To have it go on for almost two years now is quite an outlier," said Bentley.
Police spoke with the Morris family two weeks ago, letting them know Rick's case has now gone cold.
"They were understanding, I mean, on top of that, understandably it's a difficult situation to hear those words," Bentley shared.
But, for the Morris family, the search won't stop. Mariah says the family plans to put most of their continued search efforts into the settlement and middle canyon areas.
"Please don't forget Rick," she said. 'He's such an amazing person, he deserves to be found."
While it is considered a cold case now, Bentley says they will continue to take any leads or information pertaining to Rick's case.
The Morris family also has a Facebook page where they frequently make posts pertaining to Rick and his case. It can be found HERE.
Rick is described as a 32-year-old white man, with hazel eyes and dark brown hair. He is 6’2” tall and weighs about 150 pounds.
