The Alaska State Troopers and Bethel Search and Rescue are getting help in their search for two people missing since Dec. 12 on the Kuskokwim River.
A Wisconsin man who started a nonprofit to safely recover submerged bodies will be bringing high-resolution side-scanning sonar equipment to the search on Dec. 26.
Meanwhile, searchers from Bethel, Kwethluk, Akiak, Akiachak, Atmautluak, Napakiak and Napaskiak, along with the Alaska State Troopers, continue to drag an open, ice-free lead and under river ice where the body of one of the missing, Ralph "Jimmy" Demantle, 51, was recovered on Dec. 14.
Bethel Search and Rescue spokesperson Perry Barr, a retired state trooper, said crews made good progress Christmas Eve dragging over new spots on the river and re-examining spots previously checked by more than 35 volunteers. Barr said that crew would work on Christmas, dragging more of the river, while also cutting large slots for the expected gear.
"We are very hopeful that this apparatus that he is bringing with him is going to be beneficial for not only this search but also for searches in the future that we may have, unfortunately," Barr said late Wednesday.
Barr said, after inquiries from the Bethel searchers, he learned that the equipment might also be used upside-down, to examine the underside of the river's ice layer. Barr said spirits among searchers are good and that everyone is hopeful of finding closure for the families.
"I am sure it is going to be a huge relief, not only because it's going to be beneficial for the family, but a lot of the people who know the decedents," Barr said. "You have to remember that the Y-K Delta is large in itself, but there's only 22,000 people, and that's a small population and everybody knows everybody."
Searchers are hoping to find the bodies of two other missing travelers, 26 year-old George Evan, and 27 year-old Sally Stone, both of Akiak. Troopers said the three had been traveling on the Kuskokwim River from Bethel to Akiak and were last seen Dec. 11 in the village of Kwethluk. They were reported missing the next day, and searchers quickly discovered the all-terrain vehicle the three had been riding submerged in open water above Kwethluk.
Since Demantle's body was discovered, the only clues as to the location of Stone or Evans have been possible sightings of personal effects and a piece of torn clothing.
Keith Cormican is hoping his high-tech equipment, which can scan 200 feet of river bottom at a time, will speed up the recovery effort. The sonar Cormican uses can produce high-resolution images of a river bottom in a variety of conditions, helping searchers distinguish possible bodies from logs and other debris. The Kuskokwim River -- used as a highway by residents of the region's many villages during the summer and winter months -- is up to 800 feet wide in the section where the trio is believed to have entered the water. For more than a week, searchers and volunteers have braved single-digit temperatures and the dangers of working around open water in the search for the bodies of Stone and Evan.
Cormican, who said he has a personal stake in keeping rescuers safe, contacted Bethel SAR with an offer of help. His nonprofit foundation, Bruce's Legacy, is named after his brother, Bruce Cormican, a firefighter and diver who died in August 1995 while trying to recover the body of a man who had drowned on Wisconsin's Robinson Creek.
"I quit my job (owning a tree and landscape business) and started training in rescue and body recovery diving," Cormican said.
Cormican started a dive shop, sought out the best training he could find, and began teaching local fire and rescue departments about water rescues. Donations to Bruce's Legacy pay for boats, sonar and remotely operated vehicles used in the search efforts. The Alaska State Troopers are paying for Cormican and his sonar gear to fly to Bethel, but Cormican's work itself is always donated, he said.
"This equipment we have will keep people a lot safer," Cormican said.
Cormican said he has been doing rescue and recovery diving for more than 25 years and was involved in 15 searches last year, about 60 percent of which were successful. He plans to stay in Bethel at least three days. Until he arrives, Cormican said, searchers will begin using a trenching machine to cut long narrow slots in the river ice so he can drag his equipment over as much water as possible.
Finding Stone and Evan is his priority, Cormican said, because he knows that finding the bodies will help the families find closure and eliminate the chance that a searcher could be injured or killed in continuing the effort.
"I really don't want to leave there without being successful," Cormican said.