An overdue snowmachiner who was traveling to Fairbanks from Shungnak, by way of Huslia, has been found dead near Selawik Hot Springs.
Twenty-seven-year-old Travis Loughridge left Shungnak on Saturday around noon and was expected to arrive in Fairbanks by Monday evening. According to the Alaska State Trooper dispatch, a search and rescue team was deployed from Shungnak after Loughridge was not heard from. Tuesday evening around 7pm, ground searchers located Loughridge’s snowmachine and body near Selawik Hot Springs, which is the midpoint between Shungnak and Huslia.
According to Troopers, it is believed that Loughridge broke through the ice at a water crossing and suffered from hypothermia. Efforts to recover Loughridge’s body are still ongoing due to cold weather and frozen terrain, but his next of kin has been notified.
