Alaska State Troopers announced via trooper dispatch that after several days of searching, the search for 33-year-old Matt Asturi of Nevada, who recently moved to Alaska to work as a seasonal cook, has been suspended.

Asturi went missing on April 20th while paddling a canoe on Upper Trail Lake, north of Seward in the Moose Pass area. Witnesses reported that Asturi had been “consuming alcohol prior to going out in the canoe,” according to the trooper dispatch. Witnesses also stated that he had been seen paddling the canoe on the lake 15 minutes prior to him being reported missing via 911 call to the Soldotna Public Safety Communications Center at 9:12 pm. The initial caller reported seeing an overturned red canoe that Asturi was last seen using minutes before.

After the April 20th call went in, the Moose Pass Fire Department, Bear Creek Volunteer Fire Department, and Crown Point Troopers responded to the scene with two watercraft to conducted a search. After an extensive search of the lake and shore on the 20th, the search was called off and resumed on the 21st. Asturi’s next of kin were notified of the incident.

Several days of searching the lake, including a search utilizing underwater side scan sonar, proved fruitless and the search was suspended on Monday, April 27th.

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