Search and rescue crews have recovered the body of an Akiachak man who had been missing since he was last seen leaving Bethel by boat nearly a week ago.
On the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 22, responders located the body of 59-year-old Jonathan Lomack at a spot roughly 150 feet from where his boat had been found, several miles downriver of Akiachak.
According to Akiachak Tribal Police Chief Mark Mata, Lomack was found wearing all of his clothes in a wooded area off the main river, which has been inundated with high water.
Mata said that responders have no information about how Lomack became separated from his boat, but search and rescue volunteers believe he may have been trying on foot to reach a fish camp located roughly a half-mile from where his boat was found.
Lomack was seen leaving Bethel by boat at 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Mata said that Lomack’s body was transported from Akiachak to Bethel by boat on Sept. 23. Lomack’s next of kin have been notified.
Search and rescue volunteers from Akiachak, Napaskiak, Kwethluk, and Bethel, as well as a village public safety officer, assisted in the search. Alaska State Troopers surveyed the area by helicopter on the first full day of the search.
