Key facts
- Name: Clifford “Russ” Haux
- Age at disappearance: 42
- Last seen: November 27, 2003 (Thanksgiving Day)
- Location: Rock Springs, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
- Height / build: 6’1″, 185 lbs, brown hair, hazel eyes; last seen in blue jeans, a black leather jacket, a ball cap, and glasses
- Status: Still missing — believed possibly lost in the desert in adverse weather
- Investigating agency: Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, (307) 922-8296; Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, (307) 777-7181
Thanksgiving in the desert
November 27, 2003, was Thanksgiving Day. While most of America sat down to dinner, Clifford “Russ” Haux — 42 years old, a father of three — went out into the high desert around Rock Springs, Wyoming, and never came home.
The working theory has always been the simplest and the cruelest: he got lost out there, and the desert, in late November, did the rest. Adverse weather, rugged ground, miles of sagebrush and arroyo with nothing to orient by once the light goes. Wyoming’s Red Desert doesn’t forgive disorientation. Searchers have spent 23 years trying to prove that theory right or wrong, and the desert has given back nothing.
His daughters were children when he vanished. They are adults now, and they have spent most of their lives looking. In September 2026, they gave their first television interview, sitting down with NewsNation’s “Missing” series to talk about their father — the searches they have joined across the years, the terrain they have walked, and the hope they still carry that this will be the year they bring him home.
Twenty-three years of Thanksgivings. Twenty-three years of an empty chair that nobody in the family has ever really accepted.
Twenty-three years of looking
The country around Rock Springs is not the kind of desert that shows up on postcards. It is the high desert of southwestern Wyoming — wind-scoured sagebrush flats cut by dry washes, winter arriving early and hard. In late November the sun drops fast, the temperature follows it, and a person on foot without shelter is in danger within hours. Searchers who have worked missing-person cases there describe ground that looks flat until you’re in it, and then every wash looks like every other wash.
That is the ground Russ Haux’s daughters have been walking, in organized searches and family efforts, for most of their lives. They grew up with the case the way other children grow up with a family story — except this one never got an ending. When they sat down with NewsNation in September 2026, it was the first time they had told it on television: what their father was like, what the searches have cost, and why they still believe the desert will give him back.
Cold cases like this one survive on two things: people who won’t stop looking, and strangers who remember something. The daughters have supplied the first for 23 years. The second is why the case still has a sheriff’s office number attached to it.
Theories: what might have happened
Lost in the desert. This is the official leaning and the most probable: a man on foot in the high desert in late November, caught by weather, cold, and terrain. The desert around Rock Springs is vast enough to swallow a person without a trace — and it has, many times. What undercuts certainty: no clothing, no remains, no personal effects have ever been found, despite years of organized searching. The desert keeps its secrets well, but 23 years without a single trace is a long silence.
Foul play. In any unwitnessed disappearance, it has to be considered. But there is no evidence of it here — no suspects, no motive on record, no sign of violence. It remains a possibility without a foundation.
He walked away. Nothing in the daughters’ account or the record suggests Russ Haux wanted to leave his three children. He had no reason to vanish on Thanksgiving Day and every reason to come home.
The honest version is the shortest one: a father went into the desert on a holiday, the weather turned or his bearings failed, and the largest, emptiest landscape in Wyoming closed over him. His daughters are still walking it, looking.
Have information?
Contact the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 922-8296 or the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation at (307) 777-7181. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- November 27, 2003 — Clifford “Russ” Haux, 42, is last seen in the Rock Springs area on Thanksgiving Day.
- 2003–2004 — Initial searches of the desert terrain; no trace found.
- 2003–2026 — Family-led and organized searches continue across the years.
- September 2026 — His daughters give their first TV interview on NewsNation’s “Missing,” describing decades of searching.
- Today — Still missing.
FAQ
Is Russ Haux still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Clifford “Russ” Haux has been missing for nearly 23 years.
Was Russ Haux ever found?
No. Despite many searches of the desert around Rock Springs over more than two decades, no trace of him has ever been found.
How old would Russ Haux be today?
Russ was 42 when he disappeared in November 2003 — he would be about 65 years old today.
What happened to Russ Haux?
The leading theory is that he became lost in the high desert near Rock Springs and succumbed to the terrain and late-November weather. No evidence of foul play has ever surfaced, but no remains have ever been found either.
Who is searching for Russ Haux?
His three daughters, who were children when he vanished, have led family search efforts for 23 years and gave their first television interview about the case in September 2026.
How can I help?
Share this case file. If you have any information, contact the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office at (307) 922-8296.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, (307) 922-8296; Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, (307) 777-7181; NamUs/Doe Network case file.
- News: My Country 95.5, “Wyoming Has 5 Intriguing Cold Missing Person & Homicide Cases.”
- Media: NewsNation, Missing, “Clifford ‘Russ’ Haux: Lost in the Wyoming wilderness” (Sept 2026).
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.