BOONE, Iowa — The Boone County Search and Rescue is preparing for a second public search for Jessie Leopold of Jewell, who’s been missing since 2016.

In 2016, Jessie Leopold left his job and was never seen again. His car appeared three days later at the Ledges State Park, but the immediate search that followed yielded no results. Over the past nine years, police and family efforts to locate Jessie have been unsuccessful.

The first public search took place in 2023 with almost 100 volunteers showing up to search several acres of the park.

On Saturday, the Boone County Search and Rescue and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office will conduct a search of 23 acres of grassland at the end of Peony Lane, north of Ledges State Park. The search will begin at 9 a.m. and will last till approximately 1 p.m.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office says that after almost a decade and a block in the investigation, they have turned back to the park.

“We kind of circled back to, well, what makes the most sense,” said Andrew Godzicki, Boone County Sheriff. “We know that he voluntarily left his work. We know that he drove his vehicle away from there. We know that his vehicle did appear here. And actually, there was some interaction with the vehicle by park rangers and they created some documentation for that.”

While several private searches of the park have been conducted, Saturday’s search will be the second public search. With the help of volunteers, detectives, drones, K9 units, and an anthropologist, the goal is to cover as much ground as possible.

“We’re going to actually try out some new software that, if people are willing to participate in that part of it, they’ll be able to use their cell phones to actually keep track of where everybody is searching,” said Godzicki “In that way, you know, and the goal here, is that we want to get just a comprehensive search of the park.”

Volunteers interested in Saturday’s search should meet at the “Park and Ride” at 1808 South Story Street in Boone. Registration will take place there and then a shuttle with bring volunteers to the search area. Visit the Boone Search and Rescue for additional details.