Alaska News

Troopers say the body of a missing 4-year-old was found in a Chena River fish wheel

The body of a 4-year-old boy living in Fairbanks was found in a fish wheel at the Chena River, according to Alaska State Troopers.

An online trooper dispatch posted Wednesday afternoon says troopers got a call around noon Tuesday that Owen Yoakum had left his home without his family noticing.

Family and neighbors searched the area around the home before calling troopers, the dispatch said. They live near the Chena and were worried Yoakum may have gone toward the water.

Multiple agencies responded to search for the boy, including a chartered helicopter, troopers said. Searchers "were responding to the scene when the child's body was discovered in a fish wheel," according to the dispatch.

Medics took Yoakum to the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His remains will be taken to Anchorage at the request of the State Medical Examiner Office for an autopsy.

No foul play is suspected, troopers said.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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