Ryder Johnson last seen on Jan. 17 leaving job at ski resort 
 
 Almost three weeks after he was last seen, a 20-year-old Lafayette man remains missing as detectives and search crews have no viable leads about where he may be. 
 
 Ryder Johnson, 20, was last seen at 3 p.m. Jan. 17 leaving his job at Eldora Mountain Resort near Nederland, and his car was found later that night parked at 5800 Gross Dam Road in southwest Boulder County. 
 
 A thorough search of the area turned up no sign of Johnson, and weeks of subsequent investigation has turned up no leads on where he may have been heading or what he may have been doing. 
 
 "It's been pretty frustrating," Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said Thursday. "It is a very sad thing for that family. No parent should have to go through that, that's for sure." 
 
 Pelle said he recently had a meeting with investigators and rescue personnel to go over what they have already done and what more could be done. At this point the case is still open, but Pelle said the investigation is simply not as active because they've exhausted all of their leads. 
 
 "They're just not finding anything," Pelle said. 
 
 Investigators do have a few "working theories" as to what may have happened. 
 
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 "One of them is that he intentionally wandered off into the mountains and harmed himself," Pelle said. "The other working theory or possibility is that he intentionally disappeared and left his stuff behind him and trekked off to start a new life. Those are the strongest possibilities." 
 
 But Pelle said disappearing requires outside help and resources that Johnson did not appear to have. He also said investigators cannot completely rule out foul play. 
 
 "There's really no signs of that, but at this point we can't eliminate any possibility," Pelle said. "We don't have enough information to do that." 
 
 Johnson is described as a white male standing 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 155 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last known to be wearing a red and black coat with an Eldora ski jacket and black pants. 
 
 Anyone with information about Johnson's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's office at 303-441-4444. 
 
 Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars. ||||| BOULDER, Colo. -- A Boulder father is offering up a big reward for anyone who can help find his son who has been missing for more than seven months. 
 
 Ryder Johnson was last seen in January after finishing his shift at the Eldora Ski Resort near Nederland. 
 
 Investigators found his vehicle parked at the Gross Dam parking lot in Boulder, more than 20 miles away from where he was last seen. 
 
 “He liked the flagstaff road area and kind of the overlooks of Boulder,” said Richard Johnson, Ryder’s father. 
 
 The Boulder County Sheriffs' Office continues their search for the 21-year-old, but Johnson says, so far there are not many leads. “Not much from the original scene,” he said. 
 
 Now with the help of friends, Johnson is offering a $100,000 reward for anyone with information leading up to criminal charges against anyone responsible, finding his son, or at least any items his son had when he went missing. 
 
 Johnson said the reward will be up to the family’s discretion. 
 
 He last spoke with his son two days before he went missing. 
 
 “I've come to a place where you just push forward, he said, “you just search but you don't speculate, but I think it's better that way.” 
 
 Searchers placed flyers along trail heads in Boulder County, specifically near the Gross Reservoir. 
 
 The reward will be offered up through Jan. 17, 2017, marking the year since Ryder Johnson went missing. Johnson’s search for his son however, will keep going for as long as it takes. 
 
 “Justice needs to be served,” he said, “and I think it’s time to bring him home.” 
 
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 Or, keep up-to-date on the latest news and weather with the Denver7 apps for iPhone/iPads, Android and Kindle. ||||| The family of Ryder Johnson, the Lafayette man who went missing in January, is now offering a reward of $100,000 for leads on his whereabouts. 
 
 Johnson, 20, was last seen at 3 p.m. Jan. 17 leaving his job at Eldora Mountain Resort near Nederland, and his car was found later that night parked at 5800 Gross Dam Road in southwest Boulder County. 
 
 But aside from the car, weeks of searching the area turned up no signs of Johnson. Boulder County sheriff's officials said Thursday there have been no new leads in the case and no confirmed sightings. 
 
 Johnson's parents are now offering a $100,000 reward for information that finds Johnson or has information that could lead to an arrest if foul play was in fact involved in his disappearance. 
 
 The reward is being funded by donations from friends and family, and the deadline to claim the reward is Jan. 17, 2017 — the one-year anniversary of his disappearance. 
 
 "Our family continues to be grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and the professionalism and persistence of the Boulder County Sheriff's Office," said Johnson's father, Rick. 
 
 While investigators never were able to rule out foul play, sheriff's officials said that it is likely Johnson disappeared on his own volition. 
 
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 In the days after his disappearance, rescue crews searched Gross Reservoir and Walker Ranch with drones, boats and rescue crews. Family members have also organized various searches of the area. 
 
 Johnson is described as a white male standing 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 155 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last known to be wearing a red and black coat with an Eldora ski jacket and black pants. 
 
 Anyone with information about Johnson's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's office at 303-441-4444. 
 
 Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars ||||| × Severed foot found at Eldora ski resort does not belong to missing employee 
 
 BOULDER, Colo. — The severed foot found in a boot at the base of Eldora Mountain Resort in June does not belong to a resort employee who has been missing since January, the Boulder County Coroner’s Office said Friday. 
 
 The coroner’s office released the results of DNA tests that did not identify the victim but ruled out Ryder Johnson. It was previously reported the boot was not believed to belong to Johnson. 
 
 Johnson was last seen leaving the resort on Jan. 17. His vehicle was found later that day near Gross Reservoir in the 5800 block of Flagstaff Road. 
 
 The boot is a Rugged Outback men’s Apex Leather waterproof boot, size 13, for the left foot. 
 
 An employee reported finding the boot containing what he believed to be human remains on June 1. 
 
 Personnel from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Nederland Fire Protection District, Rocky Mountain Rescue Group and the resort searched the area for additional remains, along with three cadaver dogs from Front Range Rescue Dogs, but didn’t find anything. 
 
 Crews searched 180 acres around the ski resort, including eight miles of Nordic trials that were searched by horseback, officials said. 
 
 Anyone with information that might be related to the investigation is asked to contact Det. Mark Spurgeon at 303-441-3615.
– "I think it's time to bring him home," says Richard Johnson, and he's putting up a huge reward in hopes of making that happen. The man from Boulder, Colo., is referring to son Ryder, who hasn't been seen since Jan. 17. The 20-year-old was seen at 3pm on that day, just after his shift at the Eldora Ski Resort near Nederland; there have been no confirmed sightings since and leads have dried up, reports the Daily Camera. Ryder Johnson's car was found parked at Gross Dam Road that evening, and the Gross Reservoir was searched afterward. Now, friends and family have put together a $100,000 reward for information leading to the younger Johnson, the arrest of anyone potentially involved, or items he had on him when he vanished. The Denver Channel reports the reward's distribution will be at the family's discretion. "It's been pretty frustrating," said Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle in early February. "They're just not finding anything," he said of his investigation. The Camera reported that foul play is possible, but there's no evidence to that end. The other "working theories" are that he went into the mountains and harmed himself, or vanished to start a new life. Pelle called those two the "strongest possibilities." A severed foot found in a hiking boot in June at the ski resort was determined not to belong to Johnson; KDVR reports 180 acres around the resort were searched after the boot was found. The reward will expire on Jan. 17, 2017.