James Brian Rowe, 26, co-owner of the Earth-star Co-Op in Crestone, Colorado, disappeared after a period of marked behavioral change. Friends and family say his demeanor became scattered and ungrounded after attending a weekend Landmark Education seminar in Denver; they describe him as acting delusional and noted he had never before left without warning or lost regular contact with his mother.

The timeline is uncertain. James was last seen in Crestone; he told friends he planned to go to a hot spring but did not return. A friend drove him to a trailhead where he left to clear his head, reappeared barefoot and confused, then went back into the woods. On August 3, 2004, his Jeep was found abandoned off Colorado 17 about twenty miles north of Crestone with his hiking and camping gear inside and the keys still with the car. Reported transactions and possible sightings include a bank transaction in Villa Grove on August 2 and potential sightings at a Walmart in Alamosa on August 3, plus unconfirmed reports in Alamosa, Salida, Poncha Springs that fall and winter and a November 2005 tip placing him at a truck stop in southern Georgia.

Extensive air and land searches, including K-9 teams, around where the vehicle was found produced no definitive results. James was known for music, cooking, and the outdoors and had gauged ears and piercings.