Alaska State Troopers have identified the Russian Mission man found dead Saturday after his family snowmachining party became separated, saying he died after his vehicle crashed through ice during a trip home.
According to a Sunday trooper dispatch, the pilot of a search plane spotted 24-year-old Gary Kozevnikoff's snowmachine at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday. He was one of three people who went missing from a four-person group, traveling from Kwethluk to Russian Mission on three snowmachines, on Christmas Eve.
"Investigation revealed that (Kozevnikoff) had fallen through the river ice and died due to weather exposure," troopers wrote. "Next of kin has been notified."
Mike Riley, the head of Bethel Search and Rescue, said Sunday the surviving snowmachiners included three generations of Kozevnikoff's family: Gary's father Joe Kozevnikoff, brother Robert Kozevnikoff, and Robert Kozevnikoff's 5-year-old child.
Joe Kozevnikoff reportedly backtracked to begin a search effort when he reached Russian Mission early on Christmas Day and realized the accompanying snowmachines were no longer with him.
Searchers said a storm with whiteout conditions had broken the group up, with Robert Kozevnikoff and the child found in a stand of trees about 40 miles north of Bethel until about 3:20 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday, Riley said that conditions had been too poor on Friday for searchers to receive air support.
"AST tried to get an aircraft up to provide aerial support, but the weather was hampering aircraft," Riley said.
Troopers spokesman Tim Despain said the surviving Kozevnikoffs weren't brought to safety until Saturday night.
"(T)he other three persons were returned safely to Russian Mission about 6 p.m. yesterday by ground searchers," Despain wrote in an email Sunday.