Because the Crook County Sheriff’s Office has taken several reports of missing people who were attending the Symbiosis Oregon Eclipse festival at Big Summit Prairie, the office is reminding the public there is not cell service at that location, so many attendees were out of reach the last few days.

The sheriff’s office is finding families calling to report missing loved ones because they have been out of touch for several days, according to a release from the sheriff’s office. As attendees are leaving the festival, which ran from Thursday to Wednesday, and regaining cell service though, they are getting back in contact with their families to confirm they are safe and not missing, the release said.

“We are trying to reassure families that this is the case and that we do attempt to locate the persons they are trying to reach,” the release said. But because of the “vast number” of people at the festival — unofficial estimates ranged from 30,000 to 80,000 people — and the remoteness of the location as well as limited law enforcement resources, it is “next to impossible to find someone in that environment,” according to the sheriff’s office.

“The situation up there is we can’t even get into the venue most times because of the crowds and traffic,” said Crook County Sheriff John Gautney. “There’s no way you’re going to find people up there.”

Gautney said reports from families of missing people especially picked up in about the last three days, including 20 on Wednesday. He assigned a sheriff’s deputy just to handle calls on missing people. That deputy would let families know the situation at the festival, including the lack of cell service, which many families were unaware of, Gautney said.

The sheriff’s office did send out a few news releases over the past week for missing people, but all of them were found.