Two tourists fell to their deaths this week near a glacier in southeastern Alaska, in separate fatal incidents, authorities said.
Thomas Casey, 69, was last seen early Saturday, Alaska Wildlife Troopers said in a dispatch. The Arizona resident was hiking in the area around Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, and had not returned by the following morning as planned. Casey did not share a travel itinerary before setting out on the hike, according to the dispatch, but his phone pinged at a remote location between the Thunder Mountain and Nugget Creek trails that surround the Mendenhall Glacier.
Juneau Mountain Rescue and multiple crews of search dogs surveyed the trails and the area around the site of the ping, state troopers said. They found Casey’s remains on the west side of the glacier late Monday afternoon and determined that he had suffered injuries in a fall. The hiker’s body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office, according to the troopers’ dispatch.
Later, on Tuesday, wildlife troopers received a report of a missing man who had fallen into a stream on the Mendenhall Glacier, according to another dispatch. Troopers have not identified the man by name but said he was a resident of Italy.
After falling into the stream, the Italian man was pushed by the force of the water into a small opening in the ice measuring roughly 2 feet wide, the wildlife troopers said. Two others traveling with the man told troopers they could no longer see him once he fell through the hole.
A technical ice rescue team was deployed to the area and, once they arrived, discovered the hole was filled with rushing water. Troopers said the situation “was determined to be too dangerous to attempt to locate the missing man, pending any further leads.”
Efforts to notify the man’s next of kin were ongoing as of Wednesday, they said. CBS News has reached out to Alaska Wildlife Troopers for more information.
The Mendenhall Glacier runs for about 13 miles, from an ice field not far from Juneau into a lake at its base. Its close proximity to Juneau, and its accessibility by road, contribute to the glacier’s popularity as a tourist destination, local guides say.
Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She typically covers breaking news, extreme weather and issues involving social justice. Emily Mae previously wrote for outlets like the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.
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