UPDATE: Alaska State Troopers have issued a statement saying that the remains found are not human remains.
They say: “Troopers were notified by a family coordinated search team that they had a cadaver dog indication and sonar scan that they described as a possible deceased person in a shallow tundra lake West of the Dalton Highway.
The group requested that the Alaska State Troopers send a dive team to the site.
The highly specialized dive team used divers and a cadaver dog to thoroughly search for Keel and were NOT able to locate any human remains within the lake that the group had identified, or anywhere in the immediate area.
The group searched the entire floor of the small lake and examined all vegetation found on the lake floor.
Through physical examination of the area by divers, the item that the group believed to be a body from a Sonar image, was determined to not be human remains.”
By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Dover, Tenn.–The wife of a Dover man who went missing on a hunting trip in Alaska in August of 2022 has shared on her Facebook page that his remains have reportedly been found, but his body has not yet been recovered and time is running out before weather in Alaska prevents the recovery efforts.
At the age of 61, Keel went missing on a hunting trip and was last seen Saturday, August 27. He and a friend were camping in a remote area in northern Alaska. They reportedly were storing the caribou they shot a quarter-mile away and Keel left the campsite to cut some meat and never returned.
Since then, several grueling searches for Keel have been conducted, including by his friends from Dover.
His wife, Liz, said the news that his remains were found has been bittersweet for her. “There have been four sonar experts that have reviewed the pictures from the lake and all agree it is human remains. So why didn’t the divers find and recover Steve?! I can’t even guess,” she said. “As you can imagine we are devastated. It has taken me a week to even speak about this part of it.”
Liz recounted the timeline of the most recent events:
“We worked all winter to find an amazing team and we did. We all worked together this spring and summer to get everything in place and I don’t mind saying it was a lot. Part of the team traveled across the lower 48 and through Canada to get to Alaska Some flew in from the lower 48. Some of our team traveled all the way across Alaska and some are from Fairbanks. They all gathered together and made the long difficult trip up the Dalton Hwy in rain and mud.”
The weather wasn’t cooperating, “but they were persistent”, setting up camp and went searching, she said.
“They used cadaver dogs, sonar and a forensic device and they found Steve!!! in a lake! Alaska state troopers were alerted and started the process of activating divers (Alaska doesnt have any state trained divers that are part of the troopers or the Dept of Public Safety. They have to get a non profit group to go)”
Liz said, “Our team could have recovered Steve right then but Alaska troopers said no they would do the recovery. Part of our team had to leave and part stayed to keep an eye on the area. They eventually had to leave also and unfortunately it took two weeks for the authorities to arrange travel for the divers. There were no authorities on site to guard or oversee the site.”
On the day the divers arrived Liz was told that their cadaver dog also alerted in the same place as the other two but they had to leave because the weather had turned. It was very foggy so they decided to return the next day to recover Steve. The next day they didn’t arrive until afternoon to search the lake. Late in the evening the authorities called to tell me they found nothing!!”
Liz said, “Since then none of the authorities or divers have contacted me or supplied the pictures videos or coordinates of the search but the divers have been busy posting information on Facebook evidently trying to distance themselves from the search since they missed him in the lake.”
She asked that everyone keep praying for Steve’s recovery and return home.
Photo courtesy of Liz Keel.