Nome searchers find body of missing man after a gold mining dredge overturned, search continues for second man

On Sunday, the Nome Search and Rescue team found the body of a man reported missing Thursday after a gold mining dredge overturned in heavy swells outside of Nome.

The search for a second missing man will continue throughout the week, said Nome Fire Department Chief Jim West Jr., who also runs the search and rescue.

The 32-foot fishing boat converted to a dredge was overturned Thursday night as it headed toward the Nome harbor from a mining claim area.

One of the three men onboard made it to shore in a raft and was picked up along the highway and taken to the hospital for hypothermia. All three men were described as being in their 60s.

Searchers checked cabins near the shore Thursday night to see if either of the men had sought shelter, but did not find them. West said the search efforts continued Friday and throughout the weekend, with searchers checking the area by foot. The Coast Guard searched the area by air but West said heavy winds and elevated surf prevented them from searching by boat.

By Friday morning, heavy wind and waves in the area pushed the dredge toward shore and West said they used a backhoe that afternoon to pull the boat ashore. Neither of the men were inside the boat’s cabin, he said.

West said crews extended the search to beaches west of the debris over the weekend as the heavy winds and elevated surf shifted currents westward. At about 12:30 p.m. Sunday, a search and rescue crew member found the body of one of the missing men washed ashore about 8 miles west of the boat debris. The man’s name was not immediately available, West said.

The heavy wind and high waves were beginning to calm Monday morning, West said, and a crew planned to resume searching for the second missing man on the beach.