Citizen Staff Writer
DAVID L. TEIBEL
and SHERYL KORNMAN
skornman@tucsoncitizen.com
The search for Dwight Alan Riggs, 61, has been scaled back “drastically,” sheriff’s Deputy Dawn Barkman said Thursday.
“No foul play is suspected,” said Barkman, a spokeswoman.
Riggs,who lives on the far Northeast Side near Agua Caliente Park, has been missing since Monday.
He hiked daily, his friends told detectives.
He had “some kind of health problems,” Barkman said. Because of privacy laws, she could not say what they were.
Deputies were called to his home to check on his welfare Monday after friends and family members said they didn’t know where he was, Barkman said.
On Tuesday, Riggs’ disappearance became an official missing persons case and remains one, Barkman said.
She said a helicopter searched for Riggs on Thursday morning.
Riggs had a deep interest in southwestern archeology that led him to become active in two organizations: The Center for Desert Archeology and the Site Stewards Volunteer Program run by the Arizona State Parks agency.
“He is a supporter; he is a good member,” said Linda Pierce, the archeology center’s program manager.
“We were worried about him. A lot of us know him,” Pierce said.
Pierce said Riggs has been an archeology center member since the mid-1990s.
“We’re all just worried. We’d like to know where he is,” Pierce said. “He wanted to learn about southwestern archaeology.
The Site Stewards program has volunteers check on archaeology sites to “preserve major prehistoric, historic and paleontological resources for conservation, scientific study and interpretation,” according to the parks department Web site.
It also aims to discourage site vandalism and the sale and trading of antiquities.
Ellen Bilbrey, a spokeswoman for the parks agency, said her department was not involved in the investigation into the disappearance.
She would not talk about Riggs, citing a prohibition against discussing personnel of the department. The nature of his job could not be determined Thursday.