Others are lost hikers and snowmobilers, commercial fishermen lost at sea and plane crash victims whose remains have not been found. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Virginia Gov. When he did interact with people, he was soft-spoken and kind, especially to his young nieces and nephews; at family get-togethers they would listen in rapt silence as he read childrens books aloudthe only time many of them heard him speak at length. They called the medical examiners office several times, asking when the remains could be released. Although it's not as famous as the Bermuda Triangle, the Alaska Triangle has more unsolved missing-person cases than any other location on Earth -- more than 20,000 people have vanished in the area in the last 50 years. But you cant ignore that theres a possibility. The Alaskan bush would suit his sons temperament and skills. What finally tipped the scales for the investigators seems to have been the skeletons right leg, which showed the markings of an old injury. He lives today on the edge of the park in eastern Alaska. The Troopers announced that they identified the remains of Ronald Oquilluk using DNA from his sister. Rick Hillss skull hasnt been found. The results came back in two parts. High 51F. Three months after the Funny River bones were discovered, Shuey and another investigator found themselves speeding through the Arizona desert in the middle of the night to reach Lake Havasu City by morning. It was like he was planning on coming back.. By then, LeMaitre, who had disappeared wearing only black shorts, a black T-shirt, a black headband, white shoes, black-and-red gloves, and bib No. Born in Skagway, on the Alaskan Panhandle, she eventually moved to British Columbia. He adored them; he had nicknames for each of them and took them fishing every chance he got. Hed disappeared on a ski outing in November. We decided that with the information discovered during the investigation that it is reasonable to believe the human remains are that of Richard Bennett, he wrote in an official report on March 28. See Photos. Mount Marathon towers over the community of Seward at the head of Resurrection Bay about 125 miles south of Anchorage. Both knew they were about to deliver upheaval to an unsuspecting family. The next day, he reported her missing. But intensive searches turned up no sign of the experienced outdoorsman other than unconfirmed sightings. . She had a high, lilting voice that sounded cheerful even when she wasnt. Think of it: 35,000 people, if that, scattered across 10 million acres of rugged terrain. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. They wondered the same thing that Lieutenant Shuey wondered aloud at headquarters, a question Dolly wasnt prepared to entertain quite yet. But then the not-knowing returns, and it keeps him awake at night. it is hard to find closure with the unknown. Author Dave Roberts would later write one of the north's greatest mountaineering tales with the 2007 publication of the book "Escape from Lucania: An Epic Story of Survival.''. His remains were found near Edna bay almost 12 years to the day of his disappearance. A retired contractor in his early 70s, Leon is a compact, sturdily built man, naturally reserved but with a lot on his mind. Alaskas 586,000 square miles afford countless ways to get lost, whether by fate or design. Missing in Alaska without a trace - Anchorage Daily News Reporting for this story was supported by a grant from the nonprofit organization Images & Voices of Hope. CORRECTION: This story was corrected on July 21, 2014 to reflect that Great Smoky Mountains National Park reaches into North Carolina, not South Carolina. Leon isnt the only one whos had that idea. One such recent find _ a human foot inside a shoe discovered in northwestern Alaska _ is being sent to the FBI's new National Missing Person DNA Database at the agency's Quantico, Va., academy. A woman named Lucy Ann Johnson made headlines a few years ago. I hope youre sitting.. FAIRBANKS Alaska State Troopers are trying to find the location of a Fairbanks woman whose pickup truck was found abandoned along the Parks Highway near Healy on Sunday. Of those, three were also involved in the Richard Bennett case. One such recent find -- a human foot inside a shoe discovered in northwestern Alaska -- is being sent to the FBIs new National Missing Person DNA Database at its Quantico, Va., academy. The elements can change with amazing speed, particularly in colder seasons. Dolly and Heidi had obtained a thick stack of official case files, many of them marked privileged. At that point, one would think hed realize Something is wrong here. and then turn around and head back to the area where he came up. Missing in Alaska: With Ken Gerhard, Jax Menez Atwell, Tommy Joseph, Matthew Evan Paine. Last year the Justice Department awarded a two-year, $1.75 million grant to the Nation's Missing Children Organization and Center for Missing Adults, a clearinghouse that works with authorities. Dolly and Heidi ruled out suicide: Rick had never shown any inclination, and they didnt believe he would abandon the children, who were 5, 9, and 13 at the time. Troopers identify remains of missing person after 32 years, Public testifies on future of transgender student involvement with Alaska sports, Snowmelt seeping into basements, crawlspaces. A jogger vanishes from the top of Mt. In early 2015, I traveled to Lake Havasu City to meet the other family that had gotten a knock on its door the previous August. Red means a rough ice road. They could begin to move on. Four months later, in January of 2015, I flew back to the Kenai Peninsula. And this time, he bore the grief without his wife. Jane has always thought that Richard may have just wanted a clean start somewhere else. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. This puzzled herBennett was still listed as missing in the police database. Was it possible that the remains released to the Bennetts and now buried near Lower Summit Lake were those of Rick Hills, and the scattered bones found in the Funny River fire, Richard Bennetts? If you wouldve told me suicide, I would have said you were full of crap, Jane said. Seward's Mount Marathon is one of the most watched, single-day sporting events in the 49th state. The weather can sneak right up on you, Mallard said. Griffis grew up there, dreaming of the far north. In the middle of telling me about one of their searches for Ricks body, she lost her train of thought and fell silent, then shook her head, as if trying to dispel some unpleasant notion. The list now contains the names of 89 missing since the 1970s, but it is far from complete. Keith Mallard, who has participated in scores of searches. You provide yourself food and shelter, or you die. There werent many people with whom he could share the burden: Jane and Leroy and, it turned out, Dolly, Tom, and Heidi. Any number of climbers are missing from the missing list, though they have never officially been declared dead. Firefighters battling a huge blaze on Alaskas Kenai Peninsula first spotted a boot in the dirt. Chance of rain 40%. He could have run into the wrong bear; as many as 4,000 of them roam the peninsula, including some of the largest brown bears on the planet. In the book "Into the Wild," author Jon Krakauer speculated the 24-year-old wanderer had fallen victim to mysterious wilderness poisons. No sign of the well-known mountaineers has ever been found. A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? Seventy-one-year-old Jerry Warner from Missouri was missing for more than a year before his body was found along Willow Creek just upstream from the busy George Parks Highway. Charlie Chocknok, an elderly Yupik Eskimo last seen walking near the New Stuyahok village airport in July 2000. Troopers noticed a blue. Then there are the people who are not really lost. We have to tell them, The remains you received in 2006 were not your son, and we dont know where your son is., The letter Lieutenant Shuey read to Leon Bennett in Lake Havasu City ended exactly like the one Captain Greenstreet read aloud to Dolly and Tom Hills and Heidi Metteer in Soldotna: I understand that there is nothing that I can say that can ever repair the devastation that your family is experiencing. Jenna Miller. Winds light and variable. The Nabesna Ranger District of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is an easy place to get lost. There is speculation now that he went past Race Point, climbing toward the true summit of Mount Marathon far back in the Kenai Mountains and fell off a cliff somewhere. Then there are the people who are not really lost. Or call home, at least, Dolly added. Among a hodgepodge of field reports, lab results, correspondence, handwritten notes, and transcribed witness accounts dating back to 2004 was a two-page letter from the director of the Alaska State Troopers, Colonel James Cockrell, dated August 28, 2014. Im frustrated that Im not out there looking for him myself., Leon was caring for one of his daughters, who was recovering from a quintuple bypass. Captain Greenstreet paused without looking up from the letter. I, along with many others, would like to see this mystery solved one day.". Included are black flags, which mark locations where unidentified human remains were found. By the time he finished, Dolly and Heidi were weeping. For a long time, there was hope they might find at least a hint to explain the disappearance. Only a decade ago, mountaineer Jason Harper went so far missing in Wrangell-St. Elias Park that Alaska State Troopers don't even list him on their "active list" of missing people. The family lost track of him after an illness. 22,817 1,035. But what if he left it to find a different life? Both the medical examiner and the State Troopers were reluctant to declare the remains Richard Bennetts without DNA confirmation. After three days of futile searching, the hunt was called off. While cross-checking records with the state medical examiners office, Shuey learned that Richard Bennetts remains had been found and released to his family years earlier. He was 42 when he disappeared. The missing woman was found. When everyone was settled around the dining-room table, the captain started reading. They found tracks, but no sign of Schoch. Vast as the peninsula is, it can still seem like a small world. I was working on a story about the phenomenon in Alaska of ordinary people disappearing while doing ordinary things. Inside she found household items: coils of rope, a few tools, frying pans, spatulas, mismatched bowls. Yet the two women would keep searching for the next 10 years. Sewell grew up in the territory. The Hillses and Bennetts hadnt known of each others existence, but now their lives were inextricably linked, the peace of one family coming at the expense of the others. She went back to his file. He was clean-shaven with light-brown hair and glasses. Two families, two bodies, and a wilderness of secrets. It's one reason Eric Miller will always wonder about his brother's fate. Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Then hed wandered onto an abandoned airstrip, and there his footprints ended. This past July, I received an e-mail from Leon Bennett. He was lightly dressed and moving slowly, but they judged him to be doing fine. Hed lost a son, thought hed found him, and lost him again. Less than six years after Griffis went missing, 66-year-old Michael LeMaitre of Anchorage left the coastal community of Seward along with hundred of other runners competing in the annual Mount Marathon race.
