Troopers report that searchers are waiting for better conditions on the swollen Brushkana Creek before continuing the search for an Anchorage man who died when he flipped his ATV and fell into the water.

A report went in to troopers at 2:09 pm on Monday reporting that 55-year-old Walter Maillelle of Anchorage was beleived to be deceased after rolling his ATV and falling into the Brushkana Creek. The accident was witnessed by a friend of Maillelle’s, who drove out to mile 103 of the Denali Highway to get help.

Cantwell EMS and troopers responded to the scene and searched for Maillelle. He was soon found on the opposite side of the swollen river. Air assets could not respond to the scene because of weather conditions.

A boat was requested from Cantwell, 30 miles from the scene. By the time the boat arrived at the location, darkness was setting in. When the boat went to the area where the remains were seen earlier, they discovered that they were no longer there. The searchers in the boat searched for approximately 30 minutes, before darkness forced then to return to their launch site.

On Tuesday, searchers again took up the search. After searching all day without air assets, that were still unable to respond because of weather, they gave up at 7:30 pm and returned to Cantwell.

Searchers have decided to postpone their search until water levels on the river go down significantly.

Maillelle’s next of kin have been apprised of the situation.

UPDATE: As Helo-3 responded to an unrelated incident in the interior, upon completion, it diverted to the Brushkana Creek area to conduct a search for the missing remains of Maillelle. At 1 pm, the body was located and retrieved. The State Medical Examiner’s office was notified and will be conducting an autopsy on the remains. Mailklelle’s family has been notified of the recovery of the remains.

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  accident, Alaska, atv, brushkana creek, cantwell, drowning, maillelle, walter