In the autumn of 2020, 45-year-old Neal Gutleben was one of seven people who vanished during a boat journey in the coastal region of Alaska. The group, which also included Chad Chadwick, Alexie Nose, Michael Sharp, Bernice Waska, Elizabeth Wassillie, and Wilson Wassillie, was last seen on October 20, 2020. Their expedition reportedly began on October 17, when three of the men left the village of Quinhagak in a 22-foot welded aluminum boat to go seal hunting.
They traveled to Bethel where they picked up four more people, including Gutleben, before heading back. The party was last spotted near the mouth of the Eek River after stopping in the village of Eek for gasoline. Concern grew when the group failed to arrive in Quinhagak, prompting a report to the Alaska State Troopers on October 21.
An extensive search and rescue operation was quickly launched, involving local searchers from multiple communities, the Alaska State Troopers, and the U.S. Coast Guard. The search efforts were vast, with the Coast Guard dispatching a C-130 airplane and a Jayhawk helicopter, while Bethel Search and Rescue scanned the Kuskokwim Bay from the air. The search was complicated by challenging weather conditions, including high winds and dropping temperatures that caused ice to form on the water. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic also created difficulties, limiting the number of available searchers due to community lockdowns and quarantine measures. Over several days, crews covered a wide area, even extending the search to Nunivak Island after learning that others in similar situations had ended up there. Despite these exhaustive efforts, which turned up some debris including gas tanks and a personal flotation device, there was no sign of the missing boat or its seven occupants.
After four days of intensive searching with no success, the U.S. Coast Guard made the difficult decision to suspend its active search on October 27, 2020. Local search and rescue groups continued for a few more days, but the worsening weather and freezing conditions eventually forced them to pause their efforts indefinitely at the end of October. The official search was called off, but authorities stated it could be re-evaluated if new evidence were to surface. The case of Neal Gutleben and his six companions remains unresolved, a painful and lingering mystery for their families and the tight-knit communities of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The group is presumed to have encountered a tragic accident at sea, but without any definitive evidence, their final moments and ultimate fate remain unknown.Last Seen: Oct 20, 2020
