Alaska State Troopers have confirmed the recovery and identification of a body found near the mouth of the Susitna River on May 22. The deceased has been identified as 32-year-old Skye Rench of Wasilla, one of two men who went missing in early March after an ATV broke through the ice on the river.
A private pilot alerted authorities after spotting what appeared to be a body on the riverbank. A Department of Public Safety helicopter was dispatched to the area, where, with assistance from a member of the Alaska Dive, Rescue, and Recovery Team, the body of an adult male was recovered and flown to the Wasilla Airport. The remains were then transferred to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy and identification.
The Alaska Dive, Rescue, and Recovery Team, an all volunteer and donation-funded group, has been searching for weeks for the two missing men.
On May 23, the Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the identity of the deceased as Skye Rench. His next of kin have been notified.
Rench and 42-year-old Sean Kendall of Anchorage had been missing since March 6, 2025, when a side-by-side ATV carrying five adults broke through the ice on the Susitna River around 8:45 a.m. Three of the passengers managed to escape the freezing water and walked to a nearby work camp, later declining medical attention after being picked up by a chartered helicopter. Rench was on contract for a drilling company with a remote project near Point Mackenzie, when the ATV went through the ice.
Despite an intensive aerial search using DPS aircraft and support from the Civil Air Patrol, ice conditions made ground-based search efforts impossible. After two days with no further developments, Alaska Wildlife Troopers transitioned to a reactive search status on March 8. At that time, both missing individuals were publicly identified, and their families were notified.