Found Deceased AK - LaVerne, 64, & Van Pettigen, 66, missing snowmachiners, Big Lake, 16 Dec 2018

[MsFacetious]

Daniella Rivera on Twitter

"It's like they just vanished."

Yeah... that isn't hard to do in Alaska.

 

[MsFacetious]

Volunteer search underway near Big Lake for missing snowmachiners

“Please say a prayer for their safe return,” the couple’s daughter, LaTisha Pettigen, said in an email. “We need more belly laughs, more listening ears, more conversations, more coffee dates, more hugs and more everything from both of them.”

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A friend told authorities they may have seen the couple on snowmachines on Big Lake at noon Sunday, troopers said.

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Mayfield said while the ice isn’t thick enough to drive vehicles on, snowmachines should be fine in most places, except for near a few islands. That’s where the search teams will be directed to look first, she said. Helicopters will be searching there for open water, as well as discoloration and footprints in the snow.

Search Continues for Missing Couple in Big Lake Area

 

[MsFacetious]

I just got a bit of hope.
The last ping Tuesday morning WAS ON LAND!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Du0JptbVsAAXwIi.jpg:large

The red spot is the last ping and the blue is where they've staged for searching.

Daniella Rivera (@RiveraDanie) | Twitter

 

[Mauig’ma]

Any news yet?

 

[moonriverfarm]

Will they now move the staging area to where the land ping was?

 

[MsFacetious]

This is the latest:

Hank Davis on Twitter

Search operations continue in Big Lake this morning. Day 3, still no signs of missing snow machiners Van and LaVerne Pettigen.


Update: Search continues for missing couple in Big Lake – The Big Lake Times

Will they now move the staging area to where the land ping was?

No the staging area stays where it is, they are just searching where the ping was. I don't know how far the staging area is from the search area but my guess from the map is 7-8 miles.

They might move the staging area if they moved the search area further out. However, with snowmobiles it doesn't need to be right there because they can over so much ground. My family and I would ride 40 miles a day and that was with 2 kids with us.

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I have nothing to add here but hope.

 

[MsFacetious]

I have nothing to add here but hope.

That is what I want added. Hope. Please, a Christmas Miracle here!
I am taking this one unusually hard, I generally stay detached.

My family heads out for the first ride of the season Saturday and this is my very worst nightmare. My Dad is the exact same age. We have the same snowmobile. It is horrifying to watch this unfold when I KNOW it could easily be MY family on the news right now.

I just can't figure out what could have happened here. I guess some sort of crevasse from the earthquake is possible? If they were riding side by side they could both go off the same place.

My Dad drove off a 15 foot drop he didn't see in the dark. My daughter was following him and stopped when he dropped out of sight. He broke his femur but was otherwise fine. He was in shock, his girlfriend was hysterical and my 13 year old daughter had to take over and get them out of there. However, they were close to cabins and other people were at the cabins so they got out of there fairly quickly.

LaVerne is described as tough as nails, a true Alaskan. I hope that is enough to keep them alive until they are found. Please....

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I listen to a live stream out of Juneau (KTOO via KXLL) and they have been mentioning the earthquake issues this week...

I am really really hoping for good news. Hypothermia beats the unacceptable alternative...

 

[MsFacetious]

It worries me that no one has seen smoke. I would think there would be a fire going. Maybe there was but it was before they were known to be missing so no one noticed. I know I'm really grasping at straws here. They could build an igloo type thing and stay warm for a while. It really just depends on how much knowledge they have.


Hank Davis‏ @hankKTUU 4m4 minutes ago
UPDATE. 1:25pm, 2 of 3 volunteer search groups have returned from different areas of Big Lake. Still no sign of the missing snow machiners. @Ch2KTUU

Damnit!

 

[MsFacetious]

Hank Davis
@hankKTUU

Update on missing snow machiners. Alaska State Troopers have just returned from searching several open water areas out on Big Lake, MatSu Water Rescue is now on the scene. Details to follow.

Daniella Rivera
@RiveraDanie
At the staging area for the search for 2 missing snow machines—The MatSu Borough water rescue team just showed up

 

[MsFacetious]

Hank Davis‏ @hankKTUU
Last update for the day from Big Lake search ops: State Troopers have identified something in an unspecified area of the lake, but operations were suspended for the night. Crews will resume operations tomorrow, No further details at this time. @Ch2KTUU

 

[Tripod]

Hank Davis‏ @hankKTUU
Last update for the day from Big Lake search ops: State Troopers have identified something in an unspecified area of the lake, but operations were suspended for the night. Crews will resume operations tomorrow, No further details at this time. @Ch2KTUU

Prayers up for this couple, their family and the rescue team

 

[MsFacetious]

There are some sleds in the bottom from people who went in but escaped. I believe there are also some vehicles down there from people who slid off the ice road.

So it isn't certain to be them... but it does sound like they are certain they are in the water somewhere. I think we will know tomorrow if it is them or not. No Christmas miracle here I guess.

Mat-Su Borough Dive Team joins search for missing snowmachiners in Big Lake

"The lake has changed since the earthquake and there’s a lot extra open water, as well as there may be new warm springs," said Mark Stigar with Mat-Su Search and Rescue.

Stigar said the Mat-Su Borough Dive Team has said the lake is hazardous now, even for those who know it well.

"They’ve been out here and done a lot of work out here and they say what’s scary is you’ve got three feet of ice, and then right next to it four inches of ice, all because of a warm spring coming up from the bottom," Stigar explained, adding, "And potentially with this earthquake, we could have more of those spots, so for people who are familiar with this area, it’s changed."

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Alaska Wildlife Trooper Daniel Gunderson said their plan was to search more hazardous areas by air, including Saddleback Island and the canals between Flat Lake, Mud Lake, and Big Lake.

"That’s the areas that we’re gonna be hovering over, looking for tracks that go in and just disappear," Gunderson said.

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Troopers cited safety concerns as it grew dark, and said they will resume their efforts Friday morning at daylight.

The Pettigens' two daughters have arrived in Alaska, and went out with one of the search teams in the afternoon.

 

[DissociativeFugue]

OK, so phone was pinged. Was the phone actually found though? Has it become separated from them basically? Also wondering if they each had phones with them.

 

[tiffkinsadder]

Prayers.

 

[doodles1211]

They may have pinged the phone, but doesn't that only give you a radius or approximate location? So, if they went in the water not far from shore??? Oh, this is such a sad story.

 

[MsFacetious]

I find it so hard to believe that the phone would ping after two days underwater. That is just astronomically hard for me to believe. Even a waterproof phone... staying charged that long would be hard for me to believe.

So what I'm wondering is if the phone maybe did get separated just before they went in the water. With all the changes in the landscape there easily could have been a divot or bump that she hit and her phone or bag or whatever went flying.

I don't know. It is just all around so hard to understand. Or maybe I just don't want to believe it happened this way... because it could happen to anyone. Man I just wish everyone would stay off of all the lakes. My family included when they head out tomorrow and next Saturday, without our most experienced rider who's like a walking GPS because he's down with an injury.

Christmas will never be the same for these kids and grandkids. It's terrifying that just that split second decision has wiped out the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends.... that ripple effect just goes so far out there. It's awful enough to lose one of them.... but to lose them both at once is unfathomable. Maybe it will comfort the family that neither parent had to lose the other after 45 years.

 

[GraceG]

I know I'm rambling to myself here, feel free to skip over it here. Since we are a snowmobiling family I always analyze the crap out of these.

Some headlines are saying overdue since Friday which is NOT true.

One daughter talked to them Friday and they were indeed going out for a ride.
Family texts went unanswered Saturday.

However, Laverne did leave a message for a potential client about 11am Sunday. This was the last known contact. I don't think there's any chance she did this after spending almost 48 hours stranded out there. So they clearly made it home Friday.
Family texts went unanswered Sunday but no time was given, so we don't know if it was before or after the voicemail.

I don't know if Laverne may have had a work phone and personal phone. My dad is the same age, also owns his own business and he does have the 2 phones. There are times when his personal one dies and I have to text his work number. This could explain making the work call but not answering the daughter. Then again my Uncle does not have 2 phones and he also owns his own business.

So the point here is, we don't actually know for sure how long they've been missing. I think we can safely assume at least 48 hours since they missed a flight to see their daughter Monday but no time was given. It's now after midnight in Alaska so it's definitely been a minimum of 48 hours. Which is terrifying. It's barely been in double digits during the day. I hope that they were VERY warmly dressed. I know if you just go out for a quick ride it can be tempting to not put ALL of your gear on.

I am just not sure why they would have gone onto the lake to begin with. It looks like the reports were out there that the ice was not as thick as normal, that it was also compromised from the earthquake, that everyone should stay off of it. Both in the news and in the facebook groups.

The only thing I can think of is if maybe they were late to their Sunday appointment or thought they were going to be late to their flight and took the lake as a shortcut? We have no evidence they went into the lake, it seems most likely but then I am not convinced her phone would have pinged Tuesday morning from underwater either. So I don't know.

Mat-Su Borough officials advise extreme caution on area lakes following weekend rescue operation

"The bottom line is right now, the lakes are not frozen as they normally would be," Barkley said. "The channels we're aware of are not thick enough for any transportation vehicle, and there are other areas of the lake that usually aren't an issue that are an issue because of the earthquake."

The Big Lake park's website had NO information or warning as to the ice conditions and the potential for danger due to the earthquake and aftershocks or the thickness. Alaska State Parks

 

[MsFacetious]

The Big Lake park's website had NO information or warning as to the ice conditions and the potential for danger due to the earthquake and aftershocks or the thickness. Alaska State Parks

No, but the local pages for residents absolutely did. They were also talking among themselves about it and warning people to stay off. Also there was a rescue the weekend before when teens fell through the ice, it was on the news.

So it definitely wasn't a secret. Unfortunately I think the belief was that most look at social media pages in addition to the website itself.

If they were tourists this might be an issue, but these people knew and were well aware of the risks they were taking. Experienced riders always are. We know the danger and simply mitigate where we can. Some take more risks than others but we all make those decisions based on our skill and comfort level.

My family has been fortunate that we've never had anything life threatening. My Dad missed a 15 foot drop and broke his femur. I went left when I should have gone right and destroyed my shoulder. We've outrun a few avalanches and gone into a few very small bodies of water. My Dad heads up today and I told him to stay off the lake no matter how frozen it seems.

I quit riding after my shoulder. Being unable to take care of my baby without help was very traumatizing and I decided it was not a risk I was comfortable taking anymore. I only go occasionally when my sisters come into town as a family event.

They simply made a split second error in judgment. It's terrifying because that's really all it takes.