A popular hiking trail at Joshua Tree National Park remains closed Wednesday morning as officials employ new technology in their ongoing search for Canadian Paul Miller.

Miller has been missing since July 13 when he told his wife he was going to hike the 49 Palms Oasis – a trail rated as a moderate hike with a 300-foot elevation gain in both directions. It is about a 3-mile hike – 1½ miles in and out the same way – that takes two to three hours to complete, according to the National Park Service.

The trail was closed at sundown Tuesday while a helicopter was being used to conduct an aerial sweep of the area using a new software system that takes high-resolution aerial photos, honing in on any anomalies, park spokesman George Land said.

As of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, there was no word of any new discoveries in the search for Miller, Land said.

The 49 Palms Oasis trail reopened just after noon on Thursday and photos taken by the helicopter will take some time to analyze, Land said.

While the search for Miller has been scaled back in terms of personnel, Land said no missing person is forgotten until found.

“The National Park service never totally stops looking for someone who may have met their demise in the park,” Land said. “We’re just continuing to do whatever we can to bring closure to this family.”

Miller, 51 of Guelph, Ontario, was last seen July 13 when he told his wife he was going to hike 49 Palms Oasis trail before they checked out of their hotel in Twentynine Palms, as they wrapped up a vacation that started in Las Vegas.

Stephanie Miller has told The Desert Sun her husband of 26 years left the hotel at about 9 a.m. and was due back in time for the 11 a.m. checkout.

When he did not return by noon, she reported him missing to park officials.

The park had a rescue team in place by 12:30 p.m. They found Miller’s rented car at the 49 Palms Oasis trailhead and began a massive, multi-agency search by air and ground. Drones were also used, officials have said.

“We have a witness who saw (Miller) at the trailhead that morning, but that’s all,” Park Superintendent David Smith told The Desert Sun in August. “It is really disconcerting. But we are not going to give up.”

There have been no other traces of Miller — no footprints or empty water bottles. No sunglasses or camera parts to indicate he may have fallen or run into some trouble along the way, officials have said.

An avid outdoorsman and experienced hiker, it was Paul Miller’s first time on the 49 Palms Oasis trail.

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A white man, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, Miller left the hotel wearing dark shorts, dark gray — almost black — hiking boots and a black hat and sunglasses, his wife said. He also had a CamelBak hydration pack and a Canon camera.

“At first, I thought that he maybe fell and hurt his ankle or something like that and that’s why he couldn’t make his way back,” Stephanie Miller said in an interview in August.

“Now I just don’t know anymore. I don’t know if he’s still in the park or if he made his way out and is wandering. I don’t know what to think a anymore,” Miller said.

She holds on to hope that he is still alive, somewhere.

“It’s hard to not have hope that he’s alive. We don’t know any different,” family friend Ainsley Otten has told The Desert Sun. “Paul’s a fighter. He wouldn’t go down easy. So, until we know where he is and what condition he’s in, we will hope that he’s walking home and in the door to Stephanie.”

Anyone with information about Miller should call (760) 367-5507.