AK AK - Steve Keel, 61, missing from hunting trip, from TN - Aug 27, 2022

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WingsOverTX said:
Wow. I was thinking the environment would be his worst enemy. Maybe he did get lost. Chances of a predator attack don't seem that high to me unless one or more was at or near the carcass site.

Looking at the areas south of Deadhorse fairly close to mile marker 336.5 on a Dalton Highway map, I see the Sag River "near" the road. Unsure if he would have encountered it though.

With winter approaching & the search at two weeks, time is dwindling if he is going to be found this year.

JMO
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I want to throw into the mix that mapping is unlikely to be accurate in this area. There may be rivers with channels that move around, places shaped by ice in winter, new vegetation, etc.

It’s also not like AllTrails would have thousands of people a year trekking through there, providing on-site info, either.
 
MelInTN said:
UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone.
Of course, there is no signal out there.
I understand back at the camp they did have a satellite phone.
——
THE LATEST ON THE MAN FROM DOVER, TENNESSEE MISSING IN ALASKA.
Steve "Smiley" Keel is a 61-year-old Marine veteran and avid outdoorsman.
He went to Alaska with a friend to hunt Caribou.
They were camping in a rough, remote area in northern Alaska.
The men shot two caribou and stored them a quarter mile away to keep bears away from the campsite.
Last Saturday morning, the friend told authorities that Keel left the campsite to go cut some meat from the caribou and he never returned.
Investigators tell me the friend waited until the next day — nearly 24 hours later to report Keel missing.
I’m told he was hesitant to report it immediately thinking Keel might get mad if he did suddenly show up with a search underway.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
It's a mystery.
Keel’s sons Jake and Ben — pictured here — are now there in Alaska organizing a ground search...."

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I apologize if this has been pointed out and answered. Most likely, bears found his meat and attacked him when he came back to get it. I am assuming they did go see the area where they stored the caribou to see if there were signs of bear attack? Remote area, seems very likely.
 
The hunting partner says ^^^ that SK never got to the caribou. But it seems an unlikely assumption that this is relevant. All he had to do would be to get marginally near.

Also, he would have smelled like caribou from the kill, and it seems he was wearing caribou antlers. And his clothing might have resembled how caribou blend into the landscape. So, he wouldn’t have had to come anywhere near the kill to be a major target.

Recall, there are no showers in wilderness. The aroma of caribou kill would linger on you for days.
 
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Speculaytor said:
Do we know how they know this? Nothing moved, disturbed, no footprints, or all of the above?
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I don't think we know, but I also don't think it makes any difference whether he got to the kill or not. Perhaps they're using this detail to guess he went missing before he got to the kill, but IMO although maybe a good beginning, does not mean at all he'd be found there.

There also hasn't been any indication that SK had his pack on him. Pack debris would help locate him (if camo pack debris could even be spotted), but it would also have been carrying the 10 essentials that would help SK survive. Wet and windy, even sweaty and windy, would be recipe for rapid hypothermia, especially in those temperatures. You'd need the contents of the pack to keep you alive for a bit.
 
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If SK and his hunting partner hung their carcass somewhere, this means there are groups of shrubs/trees in the area. Otherwise, they'd be lugging a tripod? At any rate, I don't think we should be settling on the idea that there's no vegetation. And if there was vegetation, it was likely near a big water source (like the river). So easy to surprise an animal headed for the water source....
 
RickshawFan said:
I don't think we know, but I also don't think it makes any difference whether he got to the kill or not. Perhaps they're using this detail to guess he went missing before he got to the kill, but IMO although maybe a good beginning, does not mean at all he'd be found there.

There also hasn't been any indication that SK had his pack on him. Pack debris would help locate him (if camo pack debris could even be spotted), but it would also have been carrying the 10 essentials that would help SK survive. Wet and windy, even sweaty and windy, would be recipe for rapid hypothermia, especially in those temperatures.
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It is so remote, cold, etc. I don't understand why going alone, there are no beacons or something that people can carry to help locate them. Would there be any avalanche problems in that area? Is most common thoughts is he got lost, wildlife attack? Praying.
 
FWIW These are the 10 essentials.

www.mountaineers.org

What Are The Ten Essentials?

The Mountaineers Ten Essentials was formalized in 1974 when the iconic list debuted in the third edition of “Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills.” The ninth edition of “Freedom” presented a thorough modernization to prepare today's mountaineers for adventures. Learn more about what to bring...
www.mountaineers.org www.mountaineers.org
 
Speculaytor said:
It is so remote, cold, etc. I don't understand why going alone, there are no beacons or something that people can carry to help locate them. Would there be any avalanche problems in that area? Is most common thoughts is he got lost, wildlife attack? Praying.
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You can include a beacon in your 10 essentials. It would indeed be a great idea in that environment. Although no avalanche there in the flats, there is a reason local outfitters REQUIRE a Garmin inReach. It is a satellite communicator.

If it was overcast, an inReach would not be able to latch onto a satellite, but with a robust set of 10 essentials, a person could potentially "buy" enough time alive for a satellite transmission to be successful.
 
Speculaytor said:
It is so remote, cold, etc. I don't understand why going alone, there are no beacons or something that people can carry to help locate them. Would there be any avalanche problems in that area? Is most common thoughts is he got lost, wildlife attack? Praying.
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My guess is he got lost, got damp, it was windy, much colder than TN, and hypothermia set in very quickly. Animals could have scattered the remains, but this doesn't change the main scenario.

Note: to get lost, all you'd have to do is get distracted by bear scat or a footprint in the mud, and get turned around. You could come across a mud pool, and get disoriented while trying to get around it. It seems SK had a compass, but that would be irrelevant unless you had bearings for the camp, something to take bearings off (e.g. a landmark). Basically, you'd want a paper map to get yourself out of trouble.
 
Speculaytor said:
It is so remote, cold, etc. I don't understand why going alone, there are no beacons or something that people can carry to help locate them. Would there be any avalanche problems in that area? Is most common thoughts is he got lost, wildlife attack? Praying.
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Separating from a hunting or hiking partner in wilderness & natural areas often leads to outcomes like this. Just check the current active WS threads for proof.

I don't say this as a criticism, just pointing out an obvious fact. I day hike alone but always stay on trail & make sure someone knows where I'm going. That thin line between safety & danger is usually worth the risk IMO. I've been lucky. One reason: listening to my intuition.

The 10 essentials & lessons I'm learning from rescues & recoveries here are valuable to help me better evaluate preparation & risk.

Wilderness adventure is an imperative need for some of us so we go & try to do our best to stay safe.

I hope today is the day Steve is found.
JMO
 
charminglane said:
This is one of the most interesting threads I have read on WS.

Remote is a scary word. Prepared to the teeth can still be an accident, Missing 411, or death by misadventure.
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I'm not a believer in Missing 411 at all, but there is plenty of room for misadventure. That's usually the cause for people disappearing in the wilderness.

When you go to a remote place (or even in suburban wilds), you are taking risks. There is a degree to which you "put yourself in harm's way, and harm happens". That's the nature of nature. You can mitigate—with respect for nature, experience, and the right supplies (e.g. 10 essentials)—but you can't eliminate the risk.
 
RickshawFan said:
I'm not a believer in Missing 411 at all, but there is plenty of room for misadventure. That's usually the cause for people disappearing in the wilderness.

When you go to a remote place (or even in suburban wilds), you are taking risks. There is a degree to which you "put yourself in harm's way, and harm happens". That's the nature of nature. You can mitigate—with respect for nature, experience, and the right supplies (e.g. 10 essentials)—but you can't eliminate the risk.
Click to expand...
I'm not a believer in Missing 411 at all, however cases like this often get lumped in and thought that way until the reader gets into the nitty gritty of the missing person(s) and their misadventure and unpreparedness.
 
Gardenista said:
Change that. I copied the wrong thing.
69°19'05.0"N 148°50'01.4"W
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It looks like they were camped only a couple of miles from their van possibly? I'm curious in what direction the caribou were cached. Adding a fourth of a mile to this scenario doesn't seem too strenuous.

But maybe I'm way off in my calculations?

ETA: I realize both Steve & his hunting companion had likely traveled much further on foot from camp when actively hunting.
 
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