Rescuers find 40-year-old snowmobiler who vanished near Arctic Circle, Alaska cops say
UPDATE: John Booth was taken for medical treatment after he was found alive but suffering from cold weather exposure and showing signs of hypothermia, Alaska State Troopers said.
Troopers got word from ground searchers at 1:45 p.m. on Feb. 18 that Booth was found at Cape Krusenstern, a remote area southwest of the small community he’d departed by snowmobile at about 3 p.m. on Feb. 14.
He’d reportedly been headed to the larger community of Kotzebue.
“Alaska Wildlife Troopers were able to land a plane on skis and transport Booth to Kotzebue, where he was transported to the local health center for treatment,” troopers said.
The original story is below.
Rescuers in Alaska are searching for a snowmobiler who vanished in freezing weather above the Arctic Circle, officials said.
John Booth, 40, left the small community of Noatak at about 3 p.m. on Feb. 14 and didn’t show up in Kotzebue, about 50 miles to the south, as expected, Alaska State Troopers said in a Feb. 16 dispatch.
“Ground searchers from Noatak and Kotzebue have searched multiple trails between regional villages and Kotzebue,” troopers said.
A plane belonging to Alaska state troopers also joined in the search Feb. 16 but didn’t spot Booth.
Booth was driving a blue Polaris 550 Voyageur snowmobile and pulling a blue plastic sled, according to troopers.
The temperature was about 6 degrees Fahrenheit in Kotzebue when Booth set out toward the city on Feb. 14 and plummeted to -2 degrees by about 10 p.m., according to Weather Underground.
Kotzebue is about 30 miles above the Arctic Circle and about 540 miles northwest from Anchorage by air.
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Rescuers find 40-year-old snowmobiler who vanished near Arctic Circle, Alaska cops say."
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