On October 20, 2020, 44-year-old Bernice Waska of Quinhagak, Alaska, was among seven people who set out in a 20-foot open-hulled aluminum skiff on what was reported to be a seal hunting trip and never returned. The party — Waska, Chad Chadwick, Neal Gutleben, Alexie Nose, Michael Sharp, Elizabeth Wassillie, and Wilson Wassillie — was last seen near the mouth of the Eek River on Eek Island. Initial accounts say some members left Quinhagak on October 17 and stopped in Bethel to pick up others before heading out.

An extensive multi-agency search followed, involving the Alaska State Troopers, the U.S. Coast Guard and local search and rescue teams from Quinhagak, Eek, Kongiganak and Platinum. Crews searched by air and water for four days along Nunivak Island and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s western coast. Cold weather, ice formation on the water and COVID-19 quarantine restrictions limited search operations. Debris including gas tanks, a bucket, a personal flotation device and a glove was found but could not be confirmed as belonging to the missing boaters.

The Coast Guard and Alaska State Troopers suspended the official search on October 27, 2020, leaving open the possibility of resuming if new evidence appeared; local searches were also paused because of hazardous conditions with plans to resume when safer.

Did anyone in or near Quinhagak, Eek or Bethel have information about the group’s movements before October 20, 2020?