Troopers search for 2 missing men

MAT-SU — A pair of men missing in relatively remote corners of the state have law enforcement and family members worried.

In the Petersville area, Alaska State Troopers are looking for a man whose truck was found stuck in the mud. According to a trooper press statement, the red and white GMC pickup was found near Dollar Creek Friday and belongs to John Gamble, 47, of Wasilla, who was nowhere to be found.

Also at the scene were “personal items that would normally be carried with an individual,” troopers report.

Troopers and search volunteers, including search dogs, combed the area on foot and on ATVs. Troopers also brought in a helicopter.

In the meantime, troopers say they’ve learned Gamble and some friends went to a Petersville-area mining camp in early July. His friends left after July 2 but Gamble stayed behind. Eleven days elapsed before he was reported missing.

Gamble was supposed to be back to work on Monday but failed to show. Troopers say he is a white man, six foot five inches tall, 240 pounds with thinning brown hair, a moustache and dark eyes. Anyone with information is urged to call the Talkeetna trooper post at 733-2256.

In Healy, Alaska Railroad welder Rob Gage, 33, also has gone missing. His family reports that Gage has been working railroad bridges and living in a trailer on Railroad property all summer.

They say coworkers noticed Gage was unusually quiet at work on Friday and didn’t show up for work on Saturday. He was scheduled to be off work Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

The family says troopers have been notified and that co-workers searched nearby trails for Gage. He is described as 6 foot 2 inches tall with a stocky build, brown hair and eyes. He often wears a stocking cap.