Missing avalanche victim's body located by rescue dog

Published on March 4th, 2010

By SEWARD PHOENIX LOG STAFF

Searchers recovered the body of Alan Gage, 40, of Anchorage on Feb. 22, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Gage and Jim Bowles, 57, of Anchorage were caught in an avalanche near Grandview south of Girdwood on Feb. 13. Bowles body was recovered that day.

Meg, a border collie belonging to handler Carol Sanners of Girdwood, indicated a scent shortly after joining the search Feb. 22.

Gage was located at 1:30 p.m. He was flown out of the area by 4:25 p.m. and turned over to the state Medical Examiner's office.

Conditions kept searchers out of the area until weather cleared enough to resume the search on Feb. 20.

Since then, anywhere from 30 to 58 people had been combing an avalanche debris area a little larger than a football field using trained Alaska Search and Rescue dogs, RECCO units that use radar to detect items such as cell phones and reflectors, metal detectors and hand-held probes.

However, as one experienced Alaska Mountain Rescue Group individual pointed out, this particular debris field was one of the most challenging fields he's worked on, partially due to the number of downed trees buried in the damp, dense snow.

Persistence and the hard work of the some 20 volunteer, federal, state, local, private sector organizations paid off just as temperatures were forecasted to dip later that night, possibly freezing up the area and making search efforts virtually impossible.

Many who showed up to help were Gage's friends. Some returned to help bring him home.