With lots of leads reported by the public but no confirmed sightings, troopers are going back to work on the legal case against Hale, said troopers spokesman Greg Wilkinson. Troopers will continue following good leads and encourage the public to keep watching for him and his dark blue van, Wilkinson said.
Troopers do not think Hale has left Alaska, he said.
"We're not pursuing any active leads at this time," Wilkinson said. "We don't have the manpower or resources to be driving up and down the highway looking behind every tree."
Hale, the father of 15 children, lived on a remote homestead inside Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, where he had engaged in a high-profile dispute with the federal government over access. He portrayed his colorful family as simple and godly, shielded from the outside world by his interpretation of the Bible.
On Sept. 22, a Palmer grand jury indicted Hale on 30 felony charges, including kidnapping, sexual assault and incest, for alleged activities involving a daughter over a seven-year period. The charges were based on accounts brought to authorities by the older children last month, troopers said. The older children split from the family after an incident in January that became the source of some of the charges.
With the indictment still a secret, troopers flew in a helicopter Sept. 23 to arrest Hale. But he slipped away from the tent camp near McCarthy where he was staying. The next morning, his 1990 Dodge Ram camper van was missing, and it hasn't been seen since.
Hale, 64, has decades of wilderness experience but has diabetes and is in generally poor health.
Reach reporter Tom Kizzia at tkizzia@ adn.com or in Homer at 907-235-4244.
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