Unsung Heroes - Part 2

From newsminer.com

Divers recover body of second camper missing at Harding Lake
By Amanda Bohman, Staff Writer
Published June 30, 2007

HARDING LAKE—Divers on Saturday recovered the body of one of the two people still missing from a Memorial Day weekend canoe accident at Harding Lake.

The divers, part of the volunteer search effort that had continued after the official search concluded,brought up the body of 19-year-old Travis Alexander of Fort Yukon hours after a sonar expert discovered the body 82 feet below the surface. Alaska State Troopers were overseeing the recovery and confirmed Alexander’s identity.

The discovery of Alexander’s body—though it wasn’t known which victim it was at the time—was made shortly after 1 p.m. by environmental consultant Gene Ralston, according to Ginger Placeres, a spokeswoman for Tanana Chiefs Conference, a nonprofit organization spearheading the search.

Ralston travels the country helping locate drowning victims using special sonar equipment.

Alexander’s body was located deeper and further out into the lake than where searchers had thought the drowning victims would be, Placeres said.

Garrigan’s relatives were in the boat with Ralston at the time of the discovery.

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Update! From: newsminer.com

Third body pulled from Harding Lake
By Robinson Duffy, Staff Writer
Published July 3, 2007

Rescue teams at Harding Lake recovered the body of Kathy Garrigan earlier today. Hers was the last of three bodies to be pulled from the lake following a Memorial Day weekend canoe accident.

Sonar expert Gene Ralston located the body late this morning, according to Ginger Placeres, a spokeswoman for the Tanana Chiefs Conference, which has been the leading force behind the volunteer search effort. Divers pulled Garrigan’s body out of the lake at around noon. Alaska State Troopers were heading to the scene to identify the body.

Garrigan’s relatives were at the lake when the body was discovered.

From: newsminer.com

Body of 3rd missing camper recovered
By Robinson Duffy
Published July 4, 2007

According to Ralston, Garrigan’s body had appeared on sonar images Saturday, the same day the body of 19-year-old Travis Alexander was recovered, but searchers didn’t immediately realize what they had found. Garrigan’s body was lying on the bottom of the lake in such a way that it didn’t look like bodies typically do, said Ralston, a sonar expert from Idaho.

“We knew it was something that wasn’t natural and didn’t belong there,” he said. “We thought it was debris on the bottom.”

Ralston was able to locate Alexander’s body on Saturday by using wind data and sophisticated computer simulation software that can predict where an object will drift once it’s put into a body of water. By using pictures downloaded from a digital camera retrieved from the lake after the accident, Ralston was able to estimate where the three campers were on the lake before their canoe capsized. Alexander’s body as well as the body of Liza Lomando, which was discovered shortly after the search began in May, and the trio’s canoe were all found near where the computer simulation said they would be.

“We knew she had to be somewhere close (to Alexander),” Ralston said of Garrigan.

From: newsminer.com

Loss and recovery
By Editorial
Published July 4, 2007

The story of the Memorial Day weekend canoe accident and drownings of 19-year-old Travis Alexander of Fort Yukon, 20-year-old Liza Lomando of East Meadow, N.Y., and 24-year-old Kathy Garrigan of Oak Park, Ill., will long be remembered with sadness.

The Harding Lake accident involving the three young workers with the Tribal Civilian Community Corps, a branch of AmeriCorps affiliated with Tanana Chiefs Conference based in Nenana, led to days of mourning, heroism and reminders of Alaska’s cruel side.

The recovery of Mr. Alexander’s body on Sunday and Ms. Garrigan’s body on Tuesday brought bitter-sweet closure to a weeks-long ordeal for these families and many members of our community. Hearts and prayers from a wide area continue to be extended to the families who lost their loved ones.

If a bright spot can be pulled from the tragedy it comes with recognition of the many volunteers, an outpouring of community donations and the unwavering effort of those with hands on boat motors and ropes, directly involved with the search and recovery effort coordinated by TCC.

People donated gasoline, handed over their valuable watercraft to complete strangers and gave precious time to the search effort. We witnessed the work in progress.

Enduring the elements, based at a temporary camp on the lake shore, volunteers engaged in slow, laborious work, criss-crossing the lake, pulling ropes hand-over-hand hour after hour. They returned night after night to their camp, all the time hoping for recovery and closure with a new day to come.

The technology of sonar — also in service as a result of generosity and compassion from an out-of-state volunteer — ultimately proved its worth and brought the desired result. What stands out, however, is not the technology but the volunteers behind it who never gave up in a search that must have at times felt utterly hopeless.

In the midst of this drudgery the workers may not have felt it, but their efforts were no less than heroic and our community owes them thanks.

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Tanana Chiefs Conference has been coordinating the volunteer search & rescue, and recovery effort for the three missing TCCC members. The arduous process has been documented here:

http://www.tananachiefs.org/rescue.shtml

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God bless the families of the victims and the numerous volunteers who participated in the search efforts.

Outstanding work, Gene & Sandy Ralston!

Godspeed! Have a safe trip home!