On December 7, 2016, 45-year-old Scott Allen Blom left Port Alsworth, Alaska, with his two youngest children, 14-year-old Kaitlyn and 13-year-old Zachary, aboard a single-engine Piper PA-28 Cherokee piloted by 25-year-old family friend Kyle Longerbeam. The family had originally planned to travel by commercial flight but switched at the last minute; Scott’s wife and another son flew separately to Anchorage. The ninety-minute flight never arrived and personal items, the co-pilot seat and three wheels from the aircraft were found floating in Lake Clark the next day.

Searches were repeatedly hindered by ice fog and freezing temperatures. The NTSB noted reduced visibility along the route and that the pilot was not instrument-rated, but with no main wreckage recovered the cause was listed as undetermined. Scott and the other three aboard are presumed deceased but remain officially missing with no bodies recovered from the lake.

Did anyone from Port Alsworth or Lake Clark-area communities witness the plane that morning or see debris later that hasn’t been reported to authorities?