Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the location of Hidden Lake.
A Sterling man was killed Tuesday after he and two friends went ice fishing on Hidden Lake in the Skilak Loop area of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.
Central Emergency Services divers and Alaska State Troopers recovered David S. Riss’ body floating in an open section of water in the lake after his friends reported that he was missing, according to a trooper dispatch.
Riss, 45, Arthur Fena, 47, and Herbert Myddelton, all Sterling residents, drove a Dodge Caravan onto the lake Tuesday evening to go ice fishing. Riss left the van to fish elsewhere on the lake, but didn’t return to the group’s camp by nightfall, according to the dispatch.
Fena and Myddelton went searching for Riss. Both fell through the ice but were able to get out of the lake and get back to their camp to warm up by a fire, according to the dispatch.
The two called for help the next morning. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officer traveled to the lake and found Riss’s body by midmorning Wednesday.
The van has not yet been found, according to the dispatch. Riss’ body will be taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for an autopsy, however troopers don’t suspect foul play.
— Staff report
