Officials suspend search for angler missing near Willow

WILLOW — Officials suspended Saturday a search for a missing angler after finding no trace of the man for almost a week, authorities said.

Jerry Warner, 71, of Richland, Missouri, never reported back from a solo fishing trip undertaken last Sunday. Warner, described by authorities as an avid fisherman, left the Willow Creek Resort about 11 a.m. Aug. 3 saying he would be back within a few hours. He traveled upstream along Willow Creek from the Parks Highway bridge, adjacent to Willow Creek Resort.

When Warner did not return by 7 p.m. that day, authorities began searching for him.

The Mat-Su Borough dive team was sent away from the scene after searching several large pools of water in Willow Creek, according to State Troopers spokesperson Elizabeth Ipsen. Searchers used a helicopter, dog teams, and volunteers to look, as well as other technological accoutrements.

“We even had an underwater camera,” she said. “They pretty much tore apart a log jam in one of the pools to see if it had anything in it.”

Searching so far had turned up nothing, Ipsen said.

“We haven’t found any clues to determine what happened to him,” she said.

Warner, last seen carrying a fishing pole and no survival gear or cell phone, was last seen wearing a green camouflage baseball cap, grey raincoat and green chest waders.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com