The remains of a man who disappeared more than three years ago during a snowmachine journey from Kotzebue to Selawik have recently been identified at a forensics lab in Texas, according to Alaska State Troopers.
In September 2015, a "survey crew" working along the beach about 60 miles south of Kotzebue found human remains in the water near the surf, troopers said in an online dispatch Wednesday.
The remains were sent to the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, where forensic scientists conducted a DNA analysis, troopers said. They were recently identified as Clifford Griest, 32.
Griest went missing along with Shallain Adams, 23, back in May 2013. They were last seen leaving Kotzebue, 26 miles north of the Arctic Circle, on a snowmachine and never arrived at their intended destination of Selawik, about 73 miles away.
The lost snowmachiners were the subjects of a massive search involving teams from Kotzebue and neighboring villages, the Air Force, and troopers. Residents from at least six villages conducted ground searches. The official search lasted at least four days. Volunteers continued to look long afterward.
Adams' remains were found 13 miles south of Point Hope on the western edge of the Lisburne Peninsula in Northwest Alaska on Independence Day 2013.