‘Wind-blown tracks’ lead pilot to missing Alaska snowmobilers, troopers say

A civilian pilot helping search for two missing snowmobilers in Alaska hit the jackpot when he spotted their “wind-blown tracks” near a river.

Pilot Lee Staheli followed the tracks to a cabin, where he spotted Timothy Snyder 41, on the roof waving at his plane, KTUU reported.

Snyder and Jane Kaiser, 20, were rescued by plane at about 2 p..m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, and taken to nearby Noorvik, Alaska State Troopers said in a news release.

The two went missing after departing Selawik on a snowmobile at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, to check fishing nets near Selawik Lake, McClatchy News reported.

They were reported overdue at 6:20 p.m., troopers said.

Searchers found their snowmobile trailer abandoned near the mouth of the Selawik River but no sign of Snyder or Kaiser, the release said.

Snyder had burned some of his clothing to heat the cabin, pilot Ely Cyrus, who landed on the ice to pick up the two, told The Anchorage Daily News.

Temperatures in Selawik dropped to -9 degrees on Monday, Nov. 14, with -20 degree wind chill, the National Weather Service reported.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling that you get when, when you get to find somebody alive after three days of being out in the country,” Staheli told KTUU.

Selawik is a city of 800 people in the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska.

This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 10:20 AM with the headline "‘Wind-blown tracks’ lead pilot to missing Alaska snowmobilers, troopers say."