Pilot locates overdue Hooper Bay hunters

Alaska State Troopers say a volunteer pilot spotted two Southwest Alaska hunters Monday evening who’d failed to return from a trip the night before.

The disappearance of the hunters prompted a significant search-and-rescue response.

Dominic Smith, 16,  and Jeremiah Stone, 21, both of Hooper Bay, departed the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta community on a hunting trip at 10 a.m. Sunday.

They were supposed to return that evening but didn’t, troopers reported.

An initial search produced no sign of them, so efforts were expanded throughout Monday.

Local airline pilots were asked to keep an eye out for the missing hunters.

In all, 39 searchers using three boats and nine ATVs were involved.

However, it was a Hooper Bay pilot who spotted Smith and Stone from the air, troopers reported. “The local pilot spotted the boys 2.8 miles from the village of Chevak, nearly 12 miles from Hooper Bay,” troopers reported.

A Chevak volunteer picked the hunters up.

Smith and Stone were checked for injuries by the village’s health aide; both were reportedly in good health.

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