Missing Palmer man found dead near Eagle River Nature Center

This story has been updated. Click here for the latest version.

UPDATE 8:45 a.m. Thursday:

Neil Guggenmos of Palmer was found dead from apparently “self-inflicted injuries” late Wednesday, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Guggenmos’ body was found just after 9 p.m. in the area of the Eagle River Nature Center, troopers said. No foul play is suspected.

“The numerous SAR teams on scene assisted ... with the recovery of the body from a challenging location,” troopers said.

All searchers were accounted for, troopers said.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

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Original story:

Trained volunteers and rescue dogs combed the woods near the Eagle River Nature Center into the evening Wednesday as the search for Neil Guggenmos of Palmer continued with few new clues.

The center headquarters was being used as a makeshift command center Wednesday and was closed to the public, though the trails were open. The search was being carried out by the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and trained dogs, according to volunteers at the scene. Search coordinators Wednesday night referred further questions about the operation to the Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers, Chugach State Park rangers and the Anchorage Police Department began the search Wednesday morning after Guggenmos’ wife found his vehicle parked at the nature center at the end of Eagle River Road.

Earlier Wednesday, APD Sgt. Cameron Hokenson at the nature center said Guggenmos, 47, told his wife he was going to the movies Tuesday night but never returned home. She checked the nature center Wednesday morning, Hokenson said, because Guggenmos is known to hike the center’s network of trails in the Eagle River Valley.

“There’s nothing suspicious in it or anything — paid for a parking pass, even,” Hokenson told ADN. “No notes to say self-harm or anything like that.”

In June 2018, Michael Soltis of Eagle River was killed by a bear while hiking in the South Fork Eagle River Valley, about about five and a half miles west of the nature center. Center staff said bears have not been seen in the area this spring, though they are frequent visitors to area trails.

About a half-dozen search dogs and their owners joined the effort Wednesday, including Vikki Gross of Wasilla and her German shepherd Taiya. Gross and Taiya are members of the Alaska Solstice Search Dogs group and have participated in many search-and-rescue operations over the years, Gross said. It’s challenging work but something Gross said her dog enjoys immensely.

“We just like to help people,” said Gross, who like the other searchers was outfitted with a radio and bear spray.

She and Taiya combed part of the Albert Loop until around 8 p.m. Wednesday but found no sign of Guggenmos, who troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters described as 6 feet tall and weighing 260 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.

Gross said the work can be emotionally challenging, especially when a search has a negative outcome. But hope is what keeps her and other searchers coming back.

“We just keep hoping and hoping and hoping,” she said.

After spending about three hours searching for Guggenmos, Gross and Taiya were heading home to rest Wednesday night. But she said they’d be back if the search continued Thursday.

“If they want us, we’ll be here,” she said.

Peters of the Troopers asked the public to avoid the area while the search is underway, but the center’s trails will remain open to the public. A pair of trail runners who said they ran about eight miles up the Eagle River Valley and back Wednesday afternoon reported the river was low and the trails in good condition. They saw no sign of Guggenmos.