AK AK - Thomas Seibold, 31, Wisconsin man in Alaska wilderness, Sept-Nov 2012

[StormyNights]

Alaska state troopers are currently searching for a 31-year-old man who set out alone on the last leg of a three-month trip into the Alaska wilderness and has not been heard from in almost two months.

When Thomas Seibold of Three Lakes, Wis., journeyed to Alaska in June he planned to put years of survivalist training into practice in the state's frigid backcountry. A native of Germany, Seibold had spent the previous six years teaching and training at Three Rivers' Teaching Drum Outdoor School, a survivalist school that teaches American Indian values along with weather forecasting, shelter building and primitive hunting and gathering techniques. He spent much of his time under the tutelage of the school's founder, Tamarack Song, who described Seibold as a very experienced outdoorsman and a "wandering spirit."

More at link http://abcnews.go.com/US/wisconsin-...ska-wilderness/story?id=17762574#.UK3qyobSmzQ

 

[StormyNights]

View attachment 28151

Thomas' missing flyer

 

[StormyNights]

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-11-20/news/35241242_1_survivalist-remote-area-thomas-seibold

 

[StormyNights]

Could a mod please change the missing date to Nov 11, 2012. That is the day he was actually reported missing. Thanks


ETA:Thanks you, you mods are right on top of everything! Ya'll rock!!

 

[StormyNights]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...g-Alaskan-wilderness-5-month-hiking-trip.html


Good article, shows maps.

 

[StormyNights]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lishes-pictures-unidentified-dead-bodies.html


NOT related to this case, but thought this might be useful in the future.

 

[northwind]

Oh boy. That does not sound good. I wonder how much practice he's actually had in tough wilderness. I live in Wisconsin, and camping/hiking is certainly capable of killing you if you're not prepared, but it's nothing on par with Alaska. I'm an avid hiker and one of the reasons I love Wisconsin and Minnesota is that you get the scenery without huge danger of bear attack or fatal falls. Alaska is very different. Very unforgiving of any mistakes.

In any case, unless he walked out and made a new life for himself, he's clearly still there and there's not much we can do about it except wish the AST good luck and hope they find him. It's rare, but people have survived for long periods of time alone in the wilderness to be rescued. Hold on, Thomas.

 

[StormyNights]

http://www.teachingdrum.org/

Where Thomas was a teacher

 

[StormyNights]

Oh boy. That does not sound good. I wonder how much practice he's actually had in tough wilderness. I live in Wisconsin, and camping/hiking is certainly capable of killing you if you're not prepared, but it's nothing on par with Alaska. I'm an avid hiker and one of the reasons I love Wisconsin and Minnesota is that you get the scenery without huge danger of bear attack or fatal falls. Alaska is very different. Very unforgiving of any mistakes.

In any case, unless he walked out and made a new life for himself, he's clearly still there and there's not much we can do about it except wish the AST good luck and hope they find him. It's rare, but people have survived for long periods of time alone in the wilderness to be rescued. Hold on, Thomas.

ITA that this does not sound good for poor Thomas. IMO the Alaskan wilderness was too much for him and he wasn't prepared for the frigid weather and rough terrain. I do hope that he is holed up somewhere just waiting to be rescued. His family must be beside themselves with worry. Yes, like Northwind said, hold on Thomas, Alaska is doing their best to find you! One good thing is that Alaska is amazing at finding lost people in the wilderness. I would like to know more about the woman he was last bunked up with. Was she a friend? An ex-lover? A stranger he met? I am sure LE has looked into all of this. There just isn't much info out there.

Northwind :seeya: Hi ya neighbor, I live in Sconnie too

 

[northwind]

Ha! Hi, StormyNights! I see so few Wisconsin cases come up here that I thought maybe there weren't too many of us here! Which might be the case still, but it's nice to meet another one.

Yeah, unfortunately it seems like Alaska has a lot of experience in searching for people who get in over their head as it happens quite a lot. Alaska is sort of the ultimate goal for survivalist hikers. I'm sure the wave of new reality shows based on living in the Alaskan wilderness doesn't help. But training for Alaska in Wisconsin is not... really comparable. Certainly we have bear attacks but they're rare and we only have black bears, not Alaska's grizzlies. And if you get in trouble in our woods, it's never too far to go for help. Or for them to find you.

But Alaska... eesh.

But who knows? Maybe he's actually had more experience than we realize and was very capable. Maybe something else happened. I hope he had a detailed hiking plan/itinerary that he left with someone. Otherwise it could be like a needle in a haystack.

 

[StormyNights]

Ha! Hi, StormyNights! I see so few Wisconsin cases come up here that I thought maybe there weren't too many of us here! Which might be the case still, but it's nice to meet another one.

Yeah, unfortunately it seems like Alaska has a lot of experience in searching for people who get in over their head as it happens quite a lot. Alaska is sort of the ultimate goal for survivalist hikers. I'm sure the wave of new reality shows based on living in the Alaskan wilderness doesn't help. But training for Alaska in Wisconsin is not... really comparable. Certainly we have bear attacks but they're rare and we only have black bears, not Alaska's grizzlies. And if you get in trouble in our woods, it's never too far to go for help. Or for them to find you.

But Alaska... eesh.

But who knows? Maybe he's actually had more experience than we realize and was very capable. Maybe something else happened. I hope he had a detailed hiking plan/itinerary that he left with someone. Otherwise it could be like a needle in a haystack.

Absolutely! I was just checking out that school he taught. Have you looked at that? I understand what you mean when saying that Wisconsin doesn't even begin to compare to Alaska as far as extreme survivalist goes. The Alaskan State Troopers are really a rare bunch and are very good at what they do. Poor Thomas, he is pulling at my heartstrings. Most likely because he is from Wisconsin. I sure hope they find him. I have a bad feeling they won't find him alive, but I will hold out hope until proven otherwise. Nice to meet ya!

 

[northwind]

Huh, that's an interesting school. It looks very intensive and kind of fun, honestly... though the guy who founded it makes me a little nervous. He seems very much one of those spiritual types who tries to come off Native American with a special name and lots of 'wisdom' to impart. Not that he's a dangerous guy or anything, but it does make you wonder how much Thomas really learned there that could have prepared him for Alaska. Provided he didn't have much experience before that, of course,

He did apparently do okay the first part of his Alaska journey though, so he clearly was capable.

I hope he's still out there holding on, but yeah... it seems so unlikely. Most of these stories end with remains being found at the bottom of a cliff or tucked under a tree after the cold night.

 

[northwind]

But the search for him is not expected to continue much longer, given searchers really don't know where to look. The obvious routes from the cabin where Seibold was staying on the Ambler River to the village of Kobuk, where he planned to catch a flight home, have been examined. There was no sign of the missing man. Search and rescue professionals say they now need at least some new clue of where to look so they can focus search efforts. A trooper in Kotzebue noted it is near impossible to effectively search hundreds of square miles of wilderness. Searches are more successful when rescuers have some idea of where to go.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/troopers-locate-missing-fort-yukon-man-still-search-german

Sounds like the AST just do not know where to look. Thomas's time is running out.

 

[northwind]

Sorry to spam this thread, but this is a fantastic article about Thomas and his journey into Alaska. Very detailed.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/two-modern-alaska-pioneers-one-virtually-present-another-really-missing?page=0,0

 

[StormyNights]

Sorry to spam this thread, but this is a fantastic article about Thomas and his journey into Alaska. Very detailed.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/two-modern-alaska-pioneers-one-virtually-present-another-really-missing?page=0,0

Wow, thanks for sharing that. I was thinking about this case last night. I was wondering if maybe Thomas was into some type of gold mining and may have stepped onto someone else's find? Interesting to to think about. Those people take their gold mining seriously. Poor Thomas, I hope he is found lease:

 

[hollyblue]

Prayers for Mr Siebold.

IMO, that school he went to sounds more like an extended recreational seminar than a survivalists camp. Learning how to harvest and hunt, cook, and build shelters in different ways....used by Native Americans is not a survival pretrial for the wilderness of Alaska. Big difference in latitude as well. Not being snarky, but maybe he should have talked to the Eskimos or natives of AK..and a little research before hand. Unfortunately, he likely succumbed to the wildlife. Even military training in survival skills isn't enough for backtracking the AK wilderness....especially alone. IMO

 

[WideOpen]

Wow Thomas.
Where ever you are I hope its been an adventure!
Please lord bring him home safe.

In one of the articles they mentioned the pilot saying his boots were worn out and then the Song fellow said that Thomas knew how to repair his own. But, that he didn't use matches even. Anyway I do feel a bit of mystery in the storytelling of this mans last days. I will be watching and praying for you Mr. Thomas.

I grew up in Wisconsin and we had a hunting cabin up north-complete with outhouse, bunks and no electricity. It was so cold tromping through that deep snow and to get back to the cabin hours later-you just never warmed up. Those trips were total misery for me as a child, unbearable torture.

My brother hunted and went alone into the tundra of Alaska for two weeks. I would love to hear those stories he tells again.

Now days I make my life in the south! I get cold when it gets below 70.

jmo

 

[StormyNights]

Wow Thomas.
Where ever you are I hope its been an adventure!
Please lord bring him home safe.

In one of the articles they mentioned the pilot saying his boots were worn out and then the Song fellow said that Thomas knew how to repair his own. But, that he didn't use matches even. Anyway I do feel a bit of mystery in the storytelling of this mans last days. I will be watching and praying for you Mr. Thomas.

I grew up in Wisconsin and we had a hunting cabin up north-complete with outhouse, bunks and no electricity. It was so cold tromping through that deep snow and to get back to the cabin hours later-you just never warmed up. Those trips were total misery for me as a child, unbearable torture.

My brother hunted and went alone into the tundra of Alaska for two weeks. I would love to hear those stories he tells again.

Now days I make my life in the south! I get cold when it gets below 70.

jmo

I grew up in Sconnie as well. It can get mighty cold here, I can only imagine what the temps in Alaska get to. BRRrrrrr......I sure hope this man is warm and is just unaware he is being looked for. Sadly, my gut tells me that elements were more than he could handle but I believe in miracles and maybe, just maybe he will be a miracle lease:

 

[bbbd4u]

I am also from WI. This is a post that I have gotten from a wall on FB about Thomas in regards to his last journal entry "In them he describes his hiking and camping higher up in the mountains exploring for a camp site. He also talked about cleaning and preparing wood at the cabin for the colder weather ahead, which intimates that he was planning to return to the cabin. Then he wrote about his plans to hike out for further exploration and that is where the letters ended. The last date on his dream journal was Oct. 7." From what I have read Thomas is well experienced and has even gone on hunts in Norway but with temps reaching with wind child 30-40 below 0F takes this situation to a whole different extreme.

 

[chris24]

My first instinct says that he is a Chris McCandless type of guy...I just hope it doesn't end the way that it did for Chris.