$15,000 Reward for Missing Haul Road Hunter Steve Keel - OP updated to show locations

[BadEarth]

Does anyone else remember the exact same thing happening last year ?? Roughly same general location.

What’s the story from last year?? I tried searching for it and couldn’t come up with anything

 

[SHTF]

I always carry 3 forms GPS. Garmin 601, My Cell, and my Inreach. I hate being turned around so I take extra time to study my area's and always scout it out. I do bread crumbs on my phone and also my 601 and I have never have much trouble.

 

[Sourdough]

What’s the story from last year?? I tried searching for it and couldn’t come up with anything

Sorry, but best I can do is tell you it was "nearly" the exact same thing. His group had hunted one side of the road, hard for several days and had seen nothing.

They were sitting around camp, and he gathered up his stuff, and stated he was going to look around on the "other side" of the road for a bit. And he totally disappeared. There was a massive search. It was "definitely" last fall. That is everything that I know. The news reporters/stations just stop covering these type events after enough time. So, it just ends up as a failed search.

 

[chinook907]

Curious Alaska: What happened to the man who went missing running Mount Marathon in 2012?

Nine years ago, Michael LeMaitre went missing running the race in Seward. No sign of him has been found, but his disappearance changed the way the race is run.

www.adn.com

Those are the same two links. I'd like to read the article about the missing mountain racer if you have it.

Ooops. Fixed it, and the correct link is above. Same one kwack provided also I believe.

 

[BadEarth]

Wow that’s crazy… especially being close to the same area

 

[Where's Bruce?]

What kinda conditions made the search using hounds fruitless? With weather averaging 50* and moisture in the air...these are optimum conditions for scent trailing. That makes no sense to me...I've seen dogs work days after someone went missing and they found her like she was on a string. And a Marine isn't gonna go wandering around in fog lost...these guys have serious training. In the worst of conditions we ALL KNOW to stay put. Have you read the reports on this guy...he was clearly up to the task. Why did his partner really go in the opposite direction? Why did he wait a day to call in help? Clearly there are pieces of this puzzle missing that fall outside the rules of logic. No bear sign...nothing touched the pack. If he had a heart attack or something eventually the smell would have attracted birds and bugs and would have been found within a mile of his pack. I'm a rank amateur and even I found my way outta the Ortegas in dense fog using the tracking feature on my GPS. Marines get real navigational training...he either wanted to disappear or someone wanted him disappeared and may have even done something to foul the sniffer dogs. This doesn't seem like an accident to me or anything "natural"...sounds more like those TV shows involving a cheating spouse or business deal gone bad. I would be searching for cause instead of remains. Something's off here.

 

[Clarktar]

Curious Alaska: What happened to the man who went missing running Mount Marathon in 2012?

Nine years ago, Michael LeMaitre went missing running the race in Seward. No sign of him has been found, but his disappearance changed the way the race is run.

www.adn.com

Ooops. Fixed it, and the correct link is above. Same one kwack provided also I believe.

I think that guy still alive and just bailed. It's pretty impossible to get lost up there. People running the clock at top talked to him on way down... He was right near top and time to turn around.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Cowbell]

What kinda conditions made the search using hounds fruitless? With weather averaging 50* and moisture in the air...these are optimum conditions for scent trailing. That makes no sense to me...I've seen dogs work days after someone went missing and they found her like she was on a string. And a Marine isn't go wandering around in fog lost...these guys have serious training. In the worst of conditions we ALL KNOW to stay put. Have you read the reports on this guy...he was clearly up to the task. Why did his partner really go in the opposite direction? Why did he wait a day to call in help? Clearly there are pieces of this puzzle missing that fall outside the rules of logic. No bear sign...nothing touched the pack. If he had a heart attack or something eventually the smell would have attracted birds and bugs and would have been found within a mile of his pack. I'm a rank amateur and even I found my way outta the Ortegas in dense fog using the tracking feature on my GPS. Marines get real navigational training...he either wanted to disappear or someone wanted him disappeared and may have even done something to foul the sniffer dogs. This doesn't seem like an accident to me or anything "natural"...sounds more like those TV shows involving a cheating spouse or business deal gone bad. I would be searching for cause instead of remains. Something's off here.

This is where I'm at - that or whoever ran the search crew isn't very good m.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Murdered or faked his own death…..or he’s actually dead. Be interesting to see if he had any outstanding debts.

 

[keller]

Hopefully it don't also put a huge financial strain on the family .I would imagine they can't collect any sort of death benefit or insurance until proof of and or cause of death has been found.

 

[highcountrymuley]

so many things don't add up! former marine... has a compass on him.... my guess is that in heavy fog he didn't trust his compass... went the wrong way for a long time and crawled into some hole or whatever protection from elements he could find - thus obscuring him from being found from above by air search. weird that gut pile and pack undisturbed by predators for so long. sad for his family. another thought is that he made it out to road and something happened there; although being a marine i would think he could handle himself against a weirdo.

 

[kaboku68]

I helped his brother and his crew link their Inreach+ explorers during the first major time that they went up there. They had them all linked to an inreach mini that was a master so I had to decouple it and change the settings in all of their units. They were nice guys and I gave them my view.
My guess is that he made it back to the road and somebody picked him up and killed him for his stuff. There is a type of serial killer who just kills for people's stuff up here and he had some guns and other personal items on him.

 

[Broomd]

I helped his brother and his crew link their Inreach+ explorers during the first major time that they went up there. They had them all linked to an inreach mini that was a master so I had to decouple it and change the settings in all of their units. They were nice guys and I gave them my view.
My guess is that he made it back to the road and somebody picked him up and killed him for his stuff. There is a type of serial killer who just kills for people's stuff up here and he had some guns and other personal items on him.

That's a take I never even considered. I guess thinking the guy had a .45 auto on him made him seem untouchable, but he appeared to be an affable enough guy.
He may not have been fully prepared for a nefarious creep to ambush him and take his stuff.

 

[DLIP]

I helped his brother and his crew link their Inreach+ explorers during the first major time that they went up there. They had them all linked to an inreach mini that was a master so I had to decouple it and change the settings in all of their units. They were nice guys and I gave them my view.
My guess is that he made it back to the road and somebody picked him up and killed him for his stuff. There is a type of serial killer who just kills for people's stuff up here and he had some guns and other personal items on him.

Do you have any links to stories about this? I’m not doubting you, just struggling to find anything. Frankly this is as plausible of an explanation for disappearance as anything else.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Hounds would not be able to track the guy in ideal conditions if they were not placed in the right spot to begin with. We can't say for sure who put the pack there. This all seems carefully orchestrated. I'm not buyin' it. It's a case for Joe Kend.

 

[long hunter]

Seems the longer this discussion goes the stranger it gets, seems mighty fishey.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Normal for the theories to get wilder and more numerous when someone disappears completely with almost no clue where they may be.

 

[slick]

I'm not going to speculate on what happened to this fella, calculated or not.

But, I do know AK has a history with weirdo serial killers and people evading the law from the L48.

@kaboku68 any more info about your serial killer gear *hore statement?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Normal for the theories to get wilder and more numerous when someone disappears completely with almost no clue where they may be.

I don't know if people are making "wild" assumptions as much as they are recognizing the pieces of the puzzle (the story presented) simply don't fit. When you honestly scrutinize all the information provided...an accidental death seems unlikely. People are now looking past that and attempting to get the available facts to make sense. At this point that means looking beyond a search grid and into the people involved. JMO...I could be wrong.

 

[Htm84]

Man. Some of you dudes watch too much tv. If I had to take a wild ass guess I’d say he either walked 200 miles in the wrong direction(not real likely in my opinion) or he slipped on a rock and smacked his head or something. Probably laying dead in a creek tucked under some willows.