Update, July 7, 12:30 p.m.:
Alaska State Troopers on Wednesday suspended the active search in Big Lake for Myles Williams, 21, of Anchorage.
“After multiple days of searching using side-scan sonar, sector sonar, dive teams, and countless volunteer searchers the Alaska State Troopers are suspending the active recovery efforts for Myles Williams,” troopers said in an update.
Troopers said that if new evidence or clues are found, they will reevaluate their search efforts.
Original story:
The search for a 21-year-old Anchorage man who fell off the back of a boat into Big Lake early Sunday morning continued all day Monday, but the man has still not been found, according to an update from Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers on Monday identified the man as Myles Williams. The West Lakes Fire Department on Monday asked the public to avoid the area between Burston Island and Bird Island in Big Lake as divers continued searching the waters near where Williams went under.
Williams was boating with a group of teens, ages 15 to 16, when he fell off the boat just before 4 a.m. Sunday and did not resurface, according to Austin McDaniel, spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers.
The boat’s driver passed standard field sobriety tests, he said. Troopers’ initial investigation found that the other occupants of the boat had been drinking alcohol, McDaniel said in an email.
Searchers are using a combination of dive teams, side scan sonar and sector sonar to search the lake, McDaniel said.
On Sunday, Mat-Su Borough EMS Dive Team, MAT+SAR and Alaska Dive Rescue were assisting with the search, troopers said.
Dive teams continued searching Big Lake on Monday from 8 a.m. to about 5 p.m., troopers said.
Efforts to recover Williams will start again Tuesday morning, troopers said.