The body of a skier who went missing in an Alaskan avalanche eight months ago has been found, authorities said Tuesday.
David Linder, 39, Charles Eppard, 39, and Jeremy Leif, 38, were heliskiing together in Girdwood, Alaska on March 4 when they were swept away and buried under between 40 and 100 feet of snow at the base of a steep slope. A spokesperson for the the Alaska State Troopers told the Associated Press at the time they did “not believe that any of the three missing persons survived the avalanche.”
Recovery efforts began immediately, but the snow’s depth and the risks of another avalanche made the area too hazardous for teams to work. As area conditions have improved in recent weeks, the recovery efforts have begun again.
In early October, the remains of one of the skiers were recovered from a log jam in the river that flowed underneath the avalanche site. The State Medical Examiner’s Office identified the remains as those of Linder, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a mid-October update.
On Tuesday, a helicopter crew and recovery team from Alaska’s Mountain Rescue Group recovered a second set of remains from the avalanche area, the Department of Public Safety said in an update. The medical examiner is working to confirm the identity of the new set of remains.
Efforts to locate the third set of remains are ongoing, the Department of Public Safety said.
Linder, Eppard and Leif were all friends who grew up in Minnesota, CBS News Minnesota reported.
Girdwood is Alaska’s skiing capital. Heliskiing is an activity where participants use a helicopter to reach the top of a mountain in remote areas where there are no ski lifts.
Avalanches kill between 25 and 30 people each winter, according to the National Avalanche Center. In the 2024-2025 season, 23 people, primarily skiers and snowboarders, died in avalanches, according to the center’s data.
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