On Sunday, searchers looking for two boaters who left Tuluksak on last Tuesday and were last heard from on Tuesday afternoon located a submerged boat near the mouth of the Kialik River.
It was on Tuesday of last week that Jim Lee Napoka and Nick Cooke left Tuluksak and traveled on the Kuskokwim River to Napaskiak. At 12:30 pm Tuesday afternoon, Napoka contacted family to let them know the two were ok and still planning to continue on their trip to Tuntutuliak by boat and expected to arrive there by Wednesday.
That was the last time that anyone heard from the two men. Family said they never arrived and that the family has attempted to call the two men on their cell phones to no avail.
Troopers in Bethel were notified of the two overdue boaters on Friday, October 25th.
Village Safety Departments in the region have been notified and searches around the area have been conducted. Searches of fish camps in the area have been carried out with no results. Those searches have been ongoing for the past few days and Alaska State Troopers utilizing their air assets, have searched the river from Tuluksak to Tuntutuliak.
A boat was found matching the description of Napoka’s vessel was discovered on Sunday near the mouth of the Kialik River, and the search for the two men is continueing.