On August 3, 2023, at 6:11 PM, the Alaska State Troopers were notified that a 37 y/o  had gone overboard from a vessel into the Bering Sea near the Pikmiktalik River. A preliminary investigation revealed that a 37 y/o, 25 y/o, the 37 y/o victim, and a juvenile were boating in the area. 

For unknown reasons, the victim jumped off the vessel into the Bering Sea and did not resurface. Village Police Officers from Stebbins responded to the area to search for the victim. The VPOs asked the two adult occupants to follow them to the area where the victim went overboard, but when they started driving, the occupants "sped away in rough waters" towards St. Michael. 

VPOs suspected that both adult occupants were under the influence of alcohol and were forced to leave the search area to pursue the vessel due to the risk posed to the juvenile still on board. Additionally, the US Coast Guard crew that had been dispatched were also forced to divert from their search for the victim in order to help locate the juvenile. 

Citizens from Stebbins attempted to intercept the vessel and remove the child, but were unsuccessful. The vessel and its occupants were located near Stephens Hill, between the villages of Stebbins and St. Michael, and they were towed back into Stebbins. In coordination with Alaska State Troopers, the VPOs arrested the two adult occupants, who then admitted to being under the influence of alcohol. A Trooper report states that the adult occupants did not cause the victim to go overboard, but their actions "greatly impeded the ability of the search and rescue crews to locate the overboard person".  

Less than 24 hours after the victim went overboard, the search had to be suspended due to poor weather conditions. After the stormy weather subsided, local search efforts continued. Efforts to locate the victim have been unsuccessful.

UPDATE: On August 10, 2023, at approximately 12:05 AM, local searchers located the body of the victim in the area of the Pikmiktalik River. The remains were taken back to St. Michael, where they were secured and later transferred to the State Medical Examiner's Office for additional examination.


(Incident description adapted from an Alaska State Trooper dispatch report, as well as a news article published by The Nome Nugget.)
Bering Sea
Stebbins                      