Vanished in the Narrows: The Unsolved Disappearance of Troy Smart Near Ketchikan, Alaska

A Routine Voyage Turns Mysterious

In the early hours of February 12, 2017, 45-year-old Troy Smart and his companion, 38-year-old Timothy Staples, both residents of Metlakatla, Alaska, embarked on what should have been a brief journey. Departing from the Mountain Point boat launch near Ketchikan around midnight, they aimed to reach Cowboys Camp on Annette Island—a trip typically completed in about 30 minutes. However, when they failed to arrive as expected, concern quickly mounted. One of the men's fiancées reported them overdue to the Coast Guard at approximately 4 a.m., initiating a search and rescue operation.

Discovery of the Capsized Skiff

Later that morning, around 9:45 a.m., the Coast Guard's MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew located the men's 16-foot skiff overturned in Blank Inlet, near the southern end of Gravina Island. The vessel was found unoccupied, with debris—including a life jacket and an oar—scattered in the vicinity. A good Samaritan vessel, the Storm Rage, assisted in righting the skiff and towing it back to Ketchikan.

Extensive Search Efforts

The search for Smart and Staples was comprehensive. The Coast Guard deployed multiple assets, including two helicopter crews from Air Station Sitka and two boat crews from Station Ketchikan. The Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad conducted shoreline searches, while the Coast Guard Cutter Maple was dispatched to assist. Despite covering an area of approximately 200 square miles encompassing Nichols Passage, Tongass Narrows, and the entrances to George and Carroll Inlets, the search yielded no further signs of the missing men.

Transition from Rescue to Recovery

After exhaustive efforts, the search transitioned from a rescue to a recovery mission. The Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad's Jerry Kiffer noted that the probability of detecting survivors had diminished significantly, stating, "We've run the possibility of detection numbers up to the point that if anybody was on the beach and was moving at all, we would have found them." The search was suspended on February 14, 2017, pending new information. ...Read More

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