Teen Remains Missing Three Days After Crash

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Category: News

Created on Tuesday, 24 September 2024 15:27

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    A search was continuing today in the rugged terrain on the Silver Bay end of the Sitka road system for a 16-year-old boy missing since the car he was in ran off the Blue Lake Road Saturday night and plunged down the steep hillside above Sawmill Creek.
    The other three occupants of the car were rescued, two in good condition and one who suffered serious injuries.
    The police investigation has included interviewing the three known survivors, males ages 16, 18 and 19, and other witnesses.

Sawmill Creek is pictured today, about 100 yards from where a car came to rest after going off a cliff on the Blue Lake Road Saturday. One of the survivors of the accident was found on the embankment  pictured on the far bank at center around midnight. Rescuers had to swim across the fast moving current in order to aid the victim. They placed him in a raft to evacuate him. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)

Rescuers responding to the accident Sunday morning found one survivor 100 yards downstream from the wrecked car. He was later medevacked with multiple broken bones and a head injury, agencies said.
Sitka Fire Chief Craig Warren said the search effort today included the Fire Department search and rescue team with two search dogs and handlers, and the emergency response vessel. The search dog teams at press time were covering the Blue Lake Road area for signs that the missing boy made it back to the road.
The city emergency response boat this morning and afternoon was sweeping the outflow of Sawmill Creek into Silver Bay, using side-scan sonar.
    The first call about the accident came in at 10:15 p.m. Saturday from one of the survivors, police said. Personnel from both the police and fire departments responded.
    The first ambulance picked up one of the victims at the foot of Blue Lake Road near the entrance of the Silver Bay Seafoods plant. An officer found another one of the teens on the Blue Lake Road and drove him to another ambulance at the intersection of Blue Lake Road and Sawmill Creek Road. Both victims were taken to the hospital.
    The third survivor was found by teams searching the woods near where the vehicle, headed downhill from the dam, had gone off the side of the gravel road. The fire department sent a team up the river from the Sawmill Creek Road, following the river as well as they could, and heard him yell. After locating him, the team took about three hours to complete the rescue, with one rescuer swimming to the victim, and using a high line and raft to bring him across the river. A team carried him in a litter to the ambulance.
    The Coast Guard Air Station was asked to help in the search around 1:10 a.m. Sunday but was not able to fly immediately because of poor weather conditions. The helicopter launched about two hours later, following a separate request from the search teams for a hoist of the injured teen. After arriving on scene, and assessing the situation for about 45 minutes with the ground crew, the Coast Guard crew determined that “sporadic clouds” at the site would make hoisting the patient not the best choice, said Chantz Black, Coast Guard assistant public affairs officer.
    The search effort has been ongoing since the accident, and has included police and fire departments, Alaska State Troopers and a search team from Juneau.
    Police helped in the search and are “interviewing and investigating all aspects” of the accident. “It’s strictly a search and rescue operation for the missing passenger,” said Police Lt. Jean Achee.
    One of the officers was able to reach the vehicle to investigate but police noted it is in a hazardous area. The fire department dive team searched the wrecked 2008 Hyundai Sonata. The police department is receiving information for the investigation from search teams and through Alaska State Troopers, the search coordinating agency.
    Police said this is an ongoing investigation, and no determination has been made as to the cause of the accident. Achee said those with information about the missing person may call police at 907 747-3245.