KYUK: Searchers have stopped looking for a missing traveler near Kwethluk. Bethel Search and Rescue officials say they suspended the search this past Saturday due to extremely cold weather, equipment that needed servicing, and low morale.
Three travelers from Akiak went missing on a four-wheeler on the Kuskokwim River during a snowstorm on December 12. Two bodies were recovered. The body of 51-year-old Ralph ‘Jimmy’ Demantle was found on December 15 near an open hole where the 4-wheeler was found just after the group went missing. Searchers located 26-year-old George Evan’s body over a month later on January 21.
The third traveler, 27-year-old Sally Stone, is still missing.
BSAR is a volunteer organization. They say they’ll continue to search for Stone after a break, but no date has yet been set to begin searching again.
Learn more about Bethel Search and Rescue and the search at BSAR’s website.