The search was called off Thursday afternoon for a Kasilof man believed to have gone kayaking earlier in the week on the Kenai Peninsula, according to Alaska State Troopers.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard and the troopers had all participated in search efforts for 38-year-old Leif Osmar on Wednesday, with the Coast Guard continuing its search through the night and into Thursday morning.
Around 4 p.m. Thursday, trooper spokesperson Megan Peters reported the search had been called off.
"We believe that everything that could be searched has been searched thoroughly. The family has been notified. Leif Osmar's case will remain in the missing persons clearinghouse until he is accounted for," she said.
Osmar was reported missing by his father, 1984 Iditarod champion Dean Osmar, on Wednesday morning. Dean Osmar told the Coast Guard that Leif may have gone kayaking Tuesday but had been gone for an unusually long time, Petty Officer 3rd Class Diana Honings said in a press release.
Osmar's kayak was located Wednesday by the National Guard in the vicinity of Clam Gulch and was later recovered by troopers, Honings said.
Osmar's life jacket was still at home, his father told the Coast Guard, and he did not believe his son had taken survival gear.
The missing man's brother, Tim Osmar, another well-known Peninsula musher, said taking off on unannounced for kayaking trips in the frigid waters of Cook Inlet isn't out of character for his brother. They grew up in the area, he said, and Leif spent his formative years and thereafter swimming, bodysurfing and kayaking in the Inlet.
"Kayaking in the Inlet ... I don't know if you've ever tried it, but I wouldn't," Tim Osmar said. "I go out on 24-foot skiffs and it can still get hairy. But he lived on the edge, and sometimes you fall off the edge, I guess."
Leif Osmar spent his summers commercial fishing with his father, said Dean Osmar. They would fish for reds, with Leif in charge of his own crew, he said.
Leif hadn't told the family his plans, Tim Osmar said.
"It was kind of a mystery. We found his vehicle parked and figured he went kayaking," he said. "We see each other every day or two, but after a while we got worried, for sure. We started taking action, but by then it was too late."
Tim Osmar said his brother was "sort of a loner."
"He was definitely a free spirit. He did his own thing," he said.
He said he's admitted that it is likely "all over." Tim said he doesn't think Leif will be found alive.
Dean Osmar drove up and down the Inlet's shoreline from Kasilof to Clam Gulch over the past several days. He said his son is a strong swimmer, even braving the Inlet in the winter, so he thinks Leif could survive longer in the waters than the average person.
"I'm still holding out hope, but the odds are against him," Dean Osmar said.
Tucked in the 13-foot blue kayak with Leif Osmar were two puppy beagles, his brother said, adding, "I think they probably didn't make it either."
Troopers sent a helicopter crew to begin the search for Osmar Wednesday afternoon on the Kasilof River and surrounding Inlet waters.
"We looked around the Kasilof River as the (Coast Guard) thought it was a realistic possibility that the tide could have pushed him toward the river," Peters said.
On Wednesday, the Coast Guard and National Guard each deployed a helicopter in search of Osmar. The Coast Guard continued to search through the night, using night-vision goggles after 10 p.m., Honings said.
A life jacket was found floating in the water about 300 yards from the kayak, Peters wrote, but troopers didn't immediately know whether it was Osmar's.
Honings said Thursday morning that a Jayhawk helicopter crew was continuing to search for Osmar. A Coast Guard cutter had also been searching for him since 4 a.m. "It's still searching," Honings said.
The troopers ended participation in the search Thursday.
On Wednesday, Osmar's truck was found near his family's fish camp near South Cohoe Loop Road.