BRECKENRIDGE — The search for 23-year old Alphonse “Michael” Barbiere has been suspended by law enforcement and search and rescue officials based on the expertise of rescue coordinators. Barbiere was last seen early Friday morning walking north on Main St. from Cecilia’s Bar.

“Upon brainstorming with the Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, we thought there was a 90 percent probability that additional searching within the search parameters would not find anything,” said Assistant Chief Greg Morrison with the Breckenridge Police Department.

More than 58 rescue group volunteers, law enforcement and three rescue dogs continued to search on Sunday, operating within a half mile radius of where Barbiere was last seen.

Breckenridge police issued a release saying Barbiere, of Wyckoff, N.J., was “highly intoxicated” when he left into a blizzard early Friday morning, according to his friends. Barbiere, a white man with brown hair and brown eyes, then headed north on Main Street wearing a black and gray ski jacket, jeans and tan boots.

According to a statement released by the family, Barbiere is an honors graduate of New York University and is currently working as a trader on Wall Street.

Barbiere and several friends from high school arrived in Breckenridge on Wednesday for an annual long-weekend ski trip. Friends he was traveling with alerted police of his disappearance when he did not return to their condo by noon on Friday.

In addition to the Summit County Search and Rescue Group, members of the following groups assisted in the search: the Summit County Water Rescue Team, the Red, White & Blue Fire Protection District, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Search and Rescue, Grand County Search and Rescue, Larimer County Search and Rescue with a search dog, Arapahoe Rescue Group, Alpine Rescue Team, Vail Mountain Rescue with an avalanche dog, El Paso County Search and Rescue and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department with a bloodhound.
Despite the massive search party, rescuers failed to locate any evidence that related to Barbiere’s disappearance.

“We found some broken ice at Dredge Pond and brought out the Summit County Water Rescue Group to lower a camera down there but we didn’t find anything,” said Assistant Chief Morrison.

“Michael is someone who would fight to survive,” said family friend Bob Nixon, who came to Breckenridge with Barbeire. “He is a very intelligent guy, and we think he might have tried to hitch hike. We know he was on his way somewhere, we just don’t know where.”

According to Nixon, Barbiere was not carrying his cell phone with him on Thursday evening, marking one of the rare occasions he ever traveled without it.

Police are also looking to identify three white males that were seen interacting and posing for pictures with Barbiere only two hours before his disappearance. These three individuals are not suspected of any suspicious or criminal activity but police want to determine if the missing man made any comments to these individuals before his disappearance.

“We want to rule everything out and tie up any loose ends,” said Assistant Chief Morrison. “We may pursue with additional search dogs in the future. We are going to see what leads come in and identify any people that were out that night and saw him.”

According to Nixon, Barbiere’s brother and brother-in-law have remained in Breckenridge to assist in the rescue while corresponding with family on the east coast.

“We have been in touch with family back east and they want closure,” said Nixon. “We are hoping anyone who was working late that night will come forward and say they saw him last.”

<i>Ashley Dickson can be reached at (970) 668-4629, or at adickson@summitdaily.com.</i>