By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A hiker new to Petersburg was found safe on southeast Mitkof Island Sunday after an unplanned night in the woods and an extensive search by multiple responders including Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Petersburg police said.
Alaska State Troopers called Coast Guard Air Station Sitka at 6 p.m. Saturday requesting help with the search.
The hiker, a man in his 30s, had gone out for the day and a search was initiated at 4 p.m. when he was reported overdue, Petersburg police said.
A Coast Guard helicopter was launched at 7 p.m. and searched for four hours before returning to Sitka when darkness created poor search conditions, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.
The search on the southeast side of Mitkof Island involved local search and rescue teams, Alaska State Troopers, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Coast Guard and the Petersburg Police Department.
Petersburg police captain Randal Holmgrain said local Search and Rescue had a good idea where the hiker was, but it was a challenge to locate him in the dense woods. The hiker had rain gear but no survival equipment, he said.
After being in the woods for 24 hours, the hiker was found at 11:15 a.m. Sunday in good condition. The hiker had gone out alone and became lost in the thick woods when he got off the trail.
Holmgrain described the area as “extremely dense terrain,” and said the search was an impressive response by all agencies involved.
“It was a concerted effort,” Holmgrain said. “The community to include search and rescue, troopers, Petersburg police, the Coast Guard aviation assets, (community) aviation assets and the U.S. Forest Service law enforcement – they pulled out all the stops to find him.”
