Body of missing Wisconsin man recovered

FAIRBANKS — Boaters found the body Saturday of a missing man with family ties to the Wasilla area in the Chena River, authorities said.

The boaters called about 4:30 p.m., May 2 to say they had found human remains. Alaska State Troopers retrieved the body from the water near Mile 37 of the Chena Hot Springs Road and transported it to the State Medical Examiner’s office, where it was positively identified as Roger H. Yaeger, 73, of Eagle River, Wisconsin, according to trooper media dispatches.

Authorities had listed Yaeger as a missing person in December, after family members reported they hadn’t heard from him since Aug. 8, 2014. Yeager had returned his rental car in Fairbanks about Aug. 11, investigators said. The listing generated a tip from a person who reported driving Yaeger to the Granite Tors Campgrounds in mid-August.

Family members suggested Yaeger was suicidal and in possession of a handgun. The medical examiner ruled Yaeger’s death a suicide, according to troopers.