Echoes Across Clarence Strait: The Vanishing of Samuel Butler

Background and Local Context

The summer of 2009 brought an unsettling disappearance to the quiet waterfront community of Coffman Cove, Alaska. On the early morning of June 29, 24‑year‑old Samuel Herndon Butler departed his home in a powered canoe, reportedly at about 3:30 a.m., without a life jacket. Known to locals simply as Sam, his early‑morning outing seemed routine at first—until his empty canoe was discovered hours later in Clarence Strait, roughly 32 miles west of Wrangell. With no sign of Sam aboard, the canyon waters held their dark secret.

Discovery of the Canoe and Initial Response

By 10:15 a.m., terrified witnesses reported spotting the lone canoe drifting in the channel. Alerted immediately, the U.S. Coast Guard launched a MH‑60 Jayhawk helicopter patrol, coordinating with ten civilian vessels who rushed into the search. The scene was tense: a canoe adrift in remote, frigid Alaska waters without its operator. But as daylight faded into the evening, the intensified search efforts yielded no trace of Samuel....Read More

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