WENATCHEE, Wash. – It’s been more than 16 months since anyone has seen or heard from Travis Coleman. His loved ones admit they can’t help but fear the worst.
“It’s like he just disappeared into thin air,” his mother Denise McBurnie said.Travis vanished on April 22, 2023. This September 14th would have been his 40th birthday. Instead of a big celebration, his mother is spending the day doing what she’s been doing for the past several months. Doing any and everything to find her son.“He was… a very gentle heart but was also suffering,” Denise said. “He had an acute mental health crisis that came on really fast. He was fighting for his soul, pretty much.” And on that April 2023 day that he disappeared, she can’t help but fear, he lost. She says he was last seen near his apartment in Wenatchee, and it’s believed he wandered into the Wenatchee Foothills. A witness reported seeing him and took note of his demeanor.“They said he looked lost, dazed, confused, haggard,” she said.Denise has been relentless in her efforts to try to get answers and comb through that area. She’s stopped at nothing to get the case moving. “I didn’t give up,” she said. “I had off road vehicles, my nephew is a part of that. They were up in razors. They looked so much for my son. And nothing. Not even a clue.”She has personally reviewed camera footage, talked to neighbors and leaned into social media which produced a new ally in her fight, Aloft Drone Search.“Every search is different,” said Aloft’s Founder and Executive Director John Jones.Jones is a FAA Certified Drone Pilot who has a calling for helping others, often total strangers. He volunteers his time to be a resource for loved ones of the missing. He’s already had success. “We’ve been on seven official searches and we’ve found two (of the missing)” he said.He, and Denise, are hoping a search for Travis will be added to that list. Jones says the area they plan to capture is 14,000 acres from Cashmere to Wenatchee. The land is rugged and rural. It’s a big effort he won’t be taking on alone.“I have about a dozen volunteers; they have training they go through,” he said. “What they do is look at every single image and they zoom in and scan through the image, and anything that’s out of place at all, we’ll post on our private FB group and they chime in.”
They then send credible areas of interest to law enforcement. The searches do require some funding that is typically raised by friends, family and the community where the disappearance occurred. In Travis’ case, the lead detective is so supportive and encouraged by their help, he personally donated to help ensure Aloft can make it happen.
Denise says it’s impossible to convey how grateful she is to both that detective and Aloft for their continued compassion during the toughest days of her life. “The support of the community has been amazing,” she said. “That’s how we got to where we are now.”The cost for searches varies depending on circumstance. In Travis Coleman’s case, they need to raise an additional $1,800 to cover all costs associated with traveling to Wenatchee to search. If you’d like to learn more about the efforts, visit https://www.aloftdronesearch.org/ If you know anything about what happened to Travis Coleman, please call (509) 663-9911. He’s roughly 5’10, 180 pounds with brown eyes and black/gray hair.
