Rescuers have recovered the body of one of the three heli-skiers killed in a massive avalanche that rushed down a rugged Alaskan mountain in March, according to authorities.
David Linder, 39; Charles Eppard, 39; and Jeremy Leif, 38, were on a guided heli-skiing trip on March 4 in the Chugach Mountains near Girdwood when they were caught in a “large avalanche,” Alaska State Troopers previously announced.
The skiers were believed to be buried in snowpiles “between 40 feet and nearly 100 feet deep” at the time, authorities said.
On Friday, volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group and the Girdwood Volunteer Fire Department returned to the site of the avalanche and discovered one of the skier’s remains, troopers announced in an update Tuesday.
The man’s body had “become caught in a log jam in the river flowing underneath the avalanche slide area,” authorities said.
The remains will be sent to the State Medical Examiner for an autopsy and to confirm the identity. Officials did not reveal which skier they believe they found.
Recovery workers were prevented from immediately searching for the men due to “poor weather conditions in the area that prevented helicopter flights,” a risk of another massive avalanche.
A fourth skier who launched with the group was rescued and recalled hearing someone fearfully shout “avalanche” over the radio before the massive curtain of snow barreled toward them at an altitude of 3,500 feet, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
One of the skiers, Linder, a Miami resident, was the co-owner of Sub Arctic Media.
The company operates over 20 talk shows and music radio stations across Minnesota, including Radio Mankato, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Eppard, of Bigfork, Montana, was “a loving father, devoted husband, incredibly thoughtful and hardworking employee and an overall amazing human being,” according to a GoFundMe set up to support his family.
Eppard, who worked in software, was survived by his wife, Brittany, and daughter, Belen.
Leif, of Minneapolis, was the CEO of Leif Consulting Group, a company he founded in December 2023, according to his LinkedIn.
The devoted Minnesota Vikings fan left behind a wife and two children, his Facebook shows.
Linder, Eppard, and Leif’s deaths marked the deadliest US avalanche since three climbers were killed in a snow slide in Washington’s Cascade Range in 2023.
Additional flight and ground operations have been scheduled to search and recover the two other missing men, police added.
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