Seven boaters remain missing after they left Quinhagak a week ago, Alaska State Troopers said in an online report Friday.
Troopers received the initial report of five overdue boaters on Wednesday. The group left the Southwest Alaska community on their boat — described as a 22-foot welded aluminum boat with a Yamaha outboard motor — on Oct. 17 and reportedly didn’t have hunting or survival gear with them, according to troopers. Later, troopers said they were told of another two people who had been on the boat and weren’t accounted for.
Chad Chadwick Sr., Elizabeth Wassillie, Michael Sharp, Alexie Nose, Wilson Wassillie, Neal Gutleben and Bernice Waska were all reportedly on the missing boat, troopers said.
Searches for the group have so far been unsuccessful. Boaters from Quinhagak and Eek looked for the group near the Eek River and along the coast, according to troopers.
A troopers plane with Bethel Search and Rescue spotters “searched the area of Kuskokwim Bay between Napakiak, Quinhagak, and Kongiganak,” troopers said, but did not find boats matching the description of the missing vessel. The Coast Guard joined the search as well.