I read an article several years ago about people who disappear n back country. One wer3 a couple of endurance runners. They gt to one of there grand father’s house and went out together for a run. There was a fork in the road. One took one road the other took the other road and they agreed to meet up in an hour or so. One came back to the meet point the other didn’t. It was dusk, they searched and called the sheriff’s office. A search party was organized. His remains were found three years later. He had fallen off a rocky area . In rural areas the sheriffs don’t have a lot of money, or capabilities for large search operations. In areas where you have apex predators such as wolves, bear mountain lions etc. remains can be hard to locate. For many of these animals people are just another protein bar.
That happens. Those two were in country where they should have not have split up.