One man died and another remained missing after separate water-related search and rescue missions last week in the Interior and on the Alaska Peninsula.
On Friday, the Fairbanks Police Department said the body of 42-year-old Elia Ansaknok was found in the Chena River near the power plant.
Ansaknok went missing on July 19 when witnesses saw him jump into the river, the police said. A number of agencies searched the area during the following week and Ansaknok was found dead by village public safety officers, they said.
Also on Friday, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search for a commercial fisherman who went overboard the day before in Egegik Bay.
The man went overboard from the Warmaster, a commercial fishing vessel, around 4 a.m. Thursday without a life jacket, said Lt. Cmdr. Mike Salerno, spokesman for the 17th Coast Guard District. Others on the ship heard him go overboard and began looking for him while another nearby ship called for help, he said.
#update CGC Aspen and @akstatetrooper and good samaritans continued to search for with no results. The Coast Guard has suspended the search. The pictures show the search location and search efforts of Coast Guard assets. pic.twitter.com/G4ZU7afO7R
— USCGAlaska (@USCGAlaska) July 27, 2024
Helicopter, plane and boat crews from the Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers searched the area Thursday and Friday along with good Samaritan boaters, but did not find the man, Salerno said. The Coast Guard suspended the search on Friday night, Salerno said.
Additional details were not immediately available, including the name of the missing man.
Egegik Bay is located on the northeastern arm of Bristol Bay.