The search for a Wisconsin man missing in Alaska since August ended earlier this week when police identified the remains found by Chena River boaters Saturday as his. Alaska State Troopers said evidence suggests his death was a suicide.
Roger H. Yaeger, a retired accountant from Eagle River, Wisconsin, came to Alaska last July on an extended solo wildlife viewing trip.
Yaeger traveled on state ferries in Southeast Alaska, flew to Fairbanks and visited a nephew in Wasilla, where he talked of visiting the Kenai Peninsula and possibly St. Lawrence Island.
On Aug. 11, he returned a rental car in Fairbanks, credit card records showed. He left no traces after that.
Because he'd told his family to expect an update around Christmas, they weren't concerned by his silence at first. But they grew worried when he stopped responding to emails, and in December, they contacted Alaska State Troopers.
Troopers in turn alerted local media and listed Yaeger as a missing person.
That netted one final tip. A person responded to troopers to say they'd given Yaeger a ride to the Tors Trail Campground, a camping area at the trailhead of the Granite Tors Trail, a popular day hike in the Chena River State Recreation Area at Mile 39.5 of Chena Hot Springs Road.
That was sometime in mid-August.
At about 4:30 p.m. Saturday, a group of boaters on the Chena River near Mile 37 of Chena Hot Springs Road spotted human remains near the river.
Troopers spokesman Tim Despain told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that efforts to reach the remains were initially hampered by the location's remoteness, but eventually they were able to recover the body with the aid of a Robinson 44 helicopter.
The body was taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy, which found a single gunshot wound to be the cause of death.
"Information from family members suggested that Yaeger was suicidal, and he was believed to be in possession of a handgun," troopers wrote in a dispatch Thursday evening. "Evidence suggests that Yaeger's death was a suicide."
Troopers said they did not suspect foul play in Yaeger's death. His family has been notified.