'Geocacher' From Millville, NJ, Believed to Be Found Dead in LA

A 58-year-old man from Millville who went missing while on a geocaching adventure in Louisiana is believed to have been found dead.

Authorities say Robert Owens, Jr., was reported missing on Monday while "geocaching," which is an outdoor recreational activity where participants use a global positioning system and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches," at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world.

Deputies with the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office say Owens' rental car was located on a road in Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana Monday.

While out searching for him Wednesday morning, they located human remains in a densely wooded area near a creek.

Authorities say due to the severe decomposition of the remains, positive identification is pending, however, from a clothing description and other physical characteristics, "Sheriff’s Detectives believe this is Mr. Owens."

The Rapides Parish Coroner responded to recover the remains and an autopsy is pending.

Never made it to Memphis

Robert Owens, known in the geocaching community as "BlazeUp," flew from Philadelphia to Louisiana to go geocaching before he was to head to Memphis, TN, for a Cachefest gathering.

Map showing Millville, NJ and Kisatchie National Forest in Rapides Parish, Louisiana (Canva)

Gale Owens, his daughter, said a man he was meeting up with there told the family he never showed up.

Gale Owens took to social media earlier in the week and said, "We miss you, dad. Wherever you are, we hope you're safe. Hopefully, we'll hear from you soon. We're all out here looking for you. Family, friends, even the police. We're worried."

His family told KALB-TV Owens rarely brought water with him on his trips and they were concerned since it has been very hot in central Louisiana.

Over the past several days, high temperatures in that part of the state had been in the upper 90s to 100 degrees with high humidity.

Detectives say their investigation is still ongoing.

With previous reporting from Townsquare Media's Dan Alexander.

Heartbreaking! Help Find These People Missing in South Jersey

LOOK: Do you know these 50 famous acronyms?

This list from Stacker features a collection of the most common acronyms and their meanings. Popular abbreviations include establishments like ACLU, YMCA, ad the AARP.