Gary Wayne Ostler, 49, vanished after a July 13, 2003 plane crash in the Icy Strait near Gustavus, Alaska. Ostler was piloting a twin-engine Cessna 401 with five family members aboard, en route from Port Angeles, Washington, to Gustavus for a fishing trip. The National Transportation Safety Board found the cause was fuel exhaustion after the pilot failed to refuel; Ostler had told air traffic control he was low on fuel and was directed to a closer airport but elected to continue to Gustavus.

Two sons-in-law, Khyl Shumway and Ben Gunn, survived after swimming about an hour and a half to shore; they reported that four occupants, including Gary and his son Christopher, exited the sinking aircraft but became separated during the roughly one-mile swim. The plane, Gary Ostler, his son Christopher, and brothers-in-law Adam Moses and Gordon Moses have never been recovered. The family held memorial services, and a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Ostler’s estate by Gordon Moses’s wife.

If anyone has information about the crash, the missing occupants, or remains that could be related to this flight, please share what is known.