Searchers are still seeking a man from the Southwest Alaska village of Kongiganak who has been missing on the Kuskokwim River for nearly a week, but they have given up hope of finding him alive.
Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said in an email Wednesday that 26-year-old George Mute had been one of three people aboard a small boat en route via Tuntutuliak to Kongiganak -- a community of about 500 people near the Kuskokwim's mouth roughly 70 miles southwest of Bethel. The boat and two of its three occupants were found safe Thursday in the area of Napaskiak, about seven miles southwest of Bethel.
The boat was initially thought to have hit a sandbar in the river but is now believed to have become stranded near the river's south bank between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Sept. 16. One of the two other men stayed aboard the boat while Mute and the other man made it to shore -- but Mute disappeared at some point overnight.
The news prompted a search for Mute by up to 50 people from nearby villages, supported by aircraft with troopers and the Civil Air Patrol. Troopers said Wednesday's search efforts were focused on dragging the river.
Troopers said there was no sign that any of the three people in the boat had been wearing life jackets.
"We do not know of any gear or supplies that Mute had on his person when he went missing," Peters wrote. "A cellphone used by Mute was later found in the boat."
Bethel Search and Rescue president Mike Riley confirmed the shift in responders' priorities Wednesday, as a team from the local rescue agency continued to assist local volunteers
"It is now a recovery (operation)," Riley said.
Riley said an extensive ground search for Mute on the island where the boat went ashore didn't locate him.
"We now believe that we have to concentrate on the water," Riley said Wednesday. "We're not ruling out the land itself -- there's still a few people checking out the land."
Riley said a single item of Mute's has been found since the search began last week.
"His Carhartt jacket was pulled out of the water two days ago," Riley said. "That's the only personal belonging we've found so far."