2 Bodies Recovered After Fishing Boat Capsized in Alaska During Rough Weather
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12/11/2024 10:06 PM
The remains of two of five crew members from the Wind Walker have been found after the boat capsized earlier this month
James Poulson/The Daily Sitka Sentinel via AP
fishing vessel Wind Walker, near Sitka, Alaska, March 29, 2022Authorities in Alaska have recovered two bodies after a crew of five went missing earlier this month when their boat capsized. Their identities have not yet been publicly released.
The deceased were transported to the state medical examiner's office in Juneau via helicopter by the Alaska National Guard so autopsies and positive identification could be performed, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
The bodies were found in Hoonah, and the "remains were located on the beach" among debris from the F/V Wind Walker, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement.
The incident happened around 12:10 a.m. on Dec. 1, after the five crew members reportedly experienced rough waters in southeast Alaska.
Travis Kapp, Michael Brown, Emilio "E.J." Celaya-Talamantez, Jacob Hannah and Alex Ireland, who also used the name Alex Zamantakis, were the five missing men, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
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"I was happy and sad at the same time because I was happy that at least two of our boys have been found and sad because of the outcome," Carol Hannah, Hannah's mother, told KTUU on Dec. 9. "But our hearts all told us that we knew this was going to be the outcome."
At the time of the interview, Carol did not know if Hannah's body was among those recovered. She mourned the losses of her son and the others whose families are also still waiting to find out.
"I'll know that my boy is on the other side and is at peace now, but I'm still going to have that hurt in my heart wondering, where are the other ones?" Carol said. "They need to be brought home, too."
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Celaya-Talamantez's mother, Malisa Celaya-Crisman, left her home in Las Vegas "to search for answers" in Alaska, but had just returned to Nevada, she told KTUU.
She said she believed authorities could have done more to find her son and his crew mates.
"I wish they would've searched a little bit longer. I feel 24 hours searching for someone's life is not long enough," she said.
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Celaya-Crisman doesn't think she will "ever have closure," and still wants to know what happened to her son.
"It's never gonna be easy," Carol told KTUU, adding that Hannah will "always be thought of every day, all day."
"He's part of my life," Hannah's mother said. "He will be until the day I die."
