Search suspended for woman who went missing under ice in Eagle River

Nearly a week after she went missing under the ice, Alaska Wildlife Troopers have suspended the active search efforts for Amanda Richmond Rogers, who went missing last Saturday near North Fork Eagle River Trail.

According to an Alaska State Troopers (AST) dispatch, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, who have been working in coordination with the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team, Anchorage Police Department, and Solstice Search Dogs, have ended the active search for the 45-year-old Eagle River Richmond Rogers.

“During four days of searching from the air with drones (sUAS) and helicopters and within the water using divers, K9 teams, sonar, and remotely operated vehicles (ROV), search teams have determined that there are no further areas of interest that are accessible to search at this time,” the dispatch said.

AK Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery also had to call of their search efforts to allow their volunteers to go back to their paying jobs. In a post to their social media page, the team wrote, “Some members have been away from their paying job of just over 2 weeks due to missions. Since the Eagle River Search began we have actively searched over 24 hours, from the time on the ice, until we were off the ice.”

The team has covered a very large area of the river with sonar and ROV equipment, identifying the main flowing water channel and followed branches until the water ways became too shallow for the ROV to pass.

“We have cut over 120 holes in the ice to deploy the sonar and ROV. Those same holes were used to deploy sea dye to identify channels and river flow. The ROV has searched going up river, down river and covered both sides of channels. We also have deployed SAR Dogs in an attempt to locate any area of interest as scents coming up through the holes.”

The team plans to continue searching when their sonar is repaired and availability of the search volunteers is scheduled. They are still waiting on a quote from the company on the cost to repair the sonar.

Richmond Rogers disappeared over the weekend, slipping under the frozen open water of the North Fork of Eagle River while trying to rescue her dog that had fallen into the water.

If new information or evidence is received by law enforcement, that evidence will be reviewed and a determination on additional search efforts will be made at that time. The Anchorage Police Department has entered Richmond as a missing person, and her next of kin have been notified.