On March 6, 2025, 32-year-old Skye Thomas Rench was with four other men on their way to a remote job site for a drilling company near Point MacKenzie, Alaska. They were traveling in a side-by-side ATV over the frozen Susitna River when the vehicle broke through the ice around 8:45 a.m. While three of the individuals were able to escape the frigid water, Skye Rench and 42-year-old Sean Kendall were swept away by the current and went under the ice.
The survivors managed to walk to a nearby work camp and were later picked up by a chartered helicopter. Skye, a lifelong Alaskan born and raised in the Mat-Su Valley, was an avid outdoorsman and had recently competed in the Iron Dog snowmobile race.
Immediately following the incident, an extensive search was launched by Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, utilizing aircraft with support from the Civil Air Patrol to scan the area. However, the treacherous ice conditions on the river made ground and water-based searches impossible at the time. After two days of intensive aerial surveillance without any sign of the missing men, the official search was transitioned to a reactive status. Despite the official search being scaled back, a volunteer dive and recovery team continued to search for the two men for weeks. Friends and family held a memorial service for Skye on March 15 at Teeland Middle School, which was heavily attended by the community, with many traveling from the lower 48 states to pay their respects.
More than two months after the tragic accident, on May 22, a private pilot spotted what appeared to be human remains near the mouth of the Susitna River and alerted the authorities. A Department of Public Safety helicopter was dispatched to the location, and with the help of a member of the Alaska Dive, Rescue, and Recovery Team, the body was recovered. The remains were taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office, where they were positively identified as Skye Rench. His family was notified of the devastating discovery. The case, which began as a search for a missing person, concluded with the heartbreaking confirmation of his passing, leaving behind his fiancée, family, and a community that remembered him as a hardworking and adventurous man with a gentle heart.Last Seen: Mar 6, 2025
