Authorities have recovered the body of a man who went missing in his skiff outside of a remote Southeast Alaska community last week.
83-year-old Steven Peavey lived in the hamlet of Meyers Chuck, about 50 miles south of Wrangell. Alaska State Troopers say he died after failing to return home before nightfall on Feb. 14.
Peavey was reported overdue the next morning. The U.S. Coast Guard launched a vessel and helicopter to help in the search, and a U.S. Forest Service Service boat from Prince of Wales also assisted the troopers.
Peavey’s skiff was found later that day, heavily damaged on rocks outside Meyers Chuck. Searchers found Peavey’s body soon after. His next of kin have been notified of his death, troopers say.
Peavey had lived in the community of Meyers Chuck nearly his whole life, having moved there in 1949 at the age of seven. That’s according to a 2015 profile in Alaska Magazine.
Peavey and his wife, Cassy, who works as Meyers Chuck’s postmistress, were also featured in a National Public Radio profile of the small community in 2017.
