The body of a Dillingham man was found near Whittier last weekend after he was reported missing by officials on Dec. 1 in a boating accident, according to a dispatch update from the Alaska State Troopers.
The boat’s owner and the family of Luki Akelkok III, 28, found his body in about two feet of water approximately 9 miles northeast of Whittier on Saturday, the dispatch stated.
Akelkok and Stefan Weingarth, 28, of Anchorage, were reportedly hunting deer and seals on Esther Island in Prince William Sound on Dec. 1 when they hit rough weather on their way back to Whittier.
The original dispatch stated that Weingarth called other hunters for help and said the boat he and Akelkok were in— a 20-foot aluminum Lund skiff— had started to sink.
The U.S. Coast Guard found Weingarth’s body wearing a life jacket near Trinity Point approximately 5 miles northeast of Whittier on Dec. 1, and he was pronounced deceased.
Akelkok was still unaccounted for until Saturday.
At the time of his body recovery, Akelkok was not found to be wearing a life jacket and was believed to have drifted 5 miles. He was pronounced deceased and his remains were taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage, the dispatch stated.
Akelkok’s next of kin and the U.S. Coast Guard have been notified.
Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.
