Rescue Teams Holding Out Hope They Can Find Missing Moose Hunters Around Bethel

Rescue teams are frantically searching for moose hunters who recently went missing near Bethel. From KTOO radio, the search continues with hope they find everyone safely:

Searching the river is a test of endurance. A few of the boats scan the search area with sonar, slowly making a grid of each section of the river. The rest use drag bars, which are long ropes attached to a metal bar. Each of the lines have a weighted hook at the end. The idea is that if there’s something underwater, the hooks will catch on it. Hope, Riley said, is the name of the game.

He dragged the bottom of a 100-yard portion of the river. The tide was slack, so he kept one hand on the rope and the other on the steering wheel. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. It started to rain. Riley tried again.

“Themajority of the people that are out here have been out here since day one,” Riley said. “It’s a lot of stress and frustration, you know. We’re working in the dark.”

This case is one of multiple Alaska incidents recently, including a hunter who was found dead and a Tennessee man who disappeared when he left his hunting partner to get supples. Sadly, yesterday a search team suspended operations without finding him.