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Search Suspended For Man Missing Between Akiak And Togiak

Albert Kvamme Jr., age 69, was last seen on April 10 when he left Akiak on a snowmachine headed to Togiak. Akiak tribal leader Mike Williams Sr. said that the overland trip takes 10 to 20 hours, depending on conditions, and that Kvamme Jr. frequently made the journey to visit his family across the mountains.

When Kvamme Jr. did not arrive at his destination the next day, local search and rescue teams from both Togiak and Akiak began looking for him. Alaska State Troopers Spokesperson Megan Peters said that the teams “found no sign that Kvamme [Jr.] had made it to the Togiak side of that trip.”

Akiachak Search and Rescue and Bethel Search and Rescue volunteers soon joined the search. Over the following days, state troopers and the Rescue Coordination Center launched multiple aerial surveys out of Bethel and Dillingham, looking for the missing man. Peters said that they did not find snowmachine tracks in the mountains between the communities, and do not believe Kvamme Jr. traveled far from where he started in Akiak.

On Tuesday, April 14, after three days of searching, Bethel Search and Rescue President Mike Riley said that local volunteers ended their ground search. Conditions had become too unsafe due to melting snow and open water. On Thursday, April 16, the troopers suspended their aerial search “pending any additional information.” Peters said that the searches never found “any evidence of Kvamme Jr. or his snowmachine.”

Williams Sr. says that local searchers will resume looking for Kvamme Jr. when conditions improve.

Anna Rose MacArthur served as KYUK's News Director from 2015-2022.