2 snowmachine riders found dead after search in western Alaska

NOME, Alaska — Two snow machine riders in western Alaska were found dead a day after they were reported late and a storm hampered search efforts, authorities said.

Alaska State Troopers identified the riders as Charlene Habros, 34, and Dustin Gologergen, 55, both of Nome. Troopers, the Alaska National Guard and Nome Search and Rescue worked Wednesday to recover the bodies, trooper spokesman Austin McDaniel said by email.

Troopers received a report around 7 a.m. Monday that the two were traveling from Teller to Nome — about 70 miles (112.7 kilometers) away — and were late. Initial ground search efforts from Nome were hampered by a storm.

The wind chill in Nome earlier Monday morning was as cold as 20 below 0 Fahrenheit (-29 degrees Celsius) and stayed well below 0 F all day.

A search aircraft located the snow machine, but there were no signs of the two, and a Teller-based search and rescue team was unable to reach the location due to bad weather. Road clearing crews from Nome were also hampered in reaching the site, troopers said, adding that crews worked to get there using a snow machine, but “extreme weather” made travel difficult.

A search team was finally able to reach the location Tuesday afternoon and found Habros and Gologergen, troopers said. The machine was located near mile 41 of the Nome Teller highway, which is about 70 miles (114 kilometers) long, McDaniel said.