A search is underway for an overdue snowmachiner who Alaska State Troopers believe may have fallen through the ice on a northwestern Alaska river.
Troopers say Alvin Williams, 52, of Ambler, left his home village alone on a snowmachine around 3 a.m. Thursday. He was headed for the nearby village of Kobuk, about 30 to 40 miles away, but never arrived, troopers said in a dispatch Friday.
Searchers found Williams’ snowmachine around 3:40 p.m. Thursday, according to troopers. It was submerged in the water on the Kobuk River trail about a mile south of Kobuk, troopers said, but Williams himself remains missing after two days.
“Williams was not located and is suspected of going into the flowing river current and possibly under the ice,” troopers said in the dispatch. “Ground search teams are currently searching the area and at exposed water openings downstream from the snowmachine.”