$15,000 Reward for Missing Haul Road Hunter Steve Keel - OP updated to show locations

[DLIP]

There was a brief mention of this guy going missing in the 2022 Haul Road thread

Cliff’s notes, he went missing several miles off the road on August 27th and was reported missing on the 28th.

Him and a buddy both killed bulls around the 5 mile line and he dropped his pack on his way back to base camp. The next day, he went back to get his backpack (approximately .6 miles away) while his hunting partner stayed in camp and he never returned. He never made it to his pack either.

There have been a number of volunteer searchers I’ve been following on Facebook as well as some aerial searches that have turned up zero trace of him.

Coordinates of his campsite and backpack are on the reward post.

UPDATED locations:

Base camp & backpack location are taken from the coordinates on the reward page. The parking spot, spike camp and check in were taken from a conversation with one of the searchers. The white circle reflects the approximate area where the caribou were killed. Believe when they killed the bulls, they camped out the evening before they made the trek back to base camp.

 

[mooster]

Been a sad story to track. Sure hope this leads to helping the family find some sort of closure.

 

[HuntHarder]

sad story for sure. Hope somehow a miraculous ending occurs but not looking likely at this point.

 

[Rich M]

That sucks.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I wonder what happened on that ~1/2 mile walk. Any theories?

 

[HoneyDew]

I wonder what happened on that ~1/2 mile walk. Any theories?

I’ve heard don’t step in puddles…

 

[Sourdough]

I wonder what happened on that ~1/2 mile walk. Any theories?

It is known that fog rolled in shortly after he departed camp to retrieve the pack.
Given how diligently they searched, my wild guess as to a possibility, is his pack may have attracted a Grizzly Bear, or he may have simply encountered a bear in the fog. If a bear got him, it would likely cover him in tundra, making him hard to see from the air.

The only other possibility I ca think of is he somehow made it back to the road exhausted, someone picked him up gave him a ride, and he met with a foul end.

Strangely as impossible to believe, the "exact" same thing happened last year. I don't think he was ever found either.

 

[Broomd]

I wonder what happened on that ~1/2 mile walk. Any theories?

Man, this is a tough one. Grizz? Wth else could it be? Been up there in exactly the same scenario, but always traveled with a partner.

Completely baffling situation. Other than willow, so much of that ground is barren ground. Can't even imagine nothing turning up.

 

[Sourdough]

Hopefully all of you have compass in each pack, including fanny pack, plus one on yourself.

 

[Sourdough]

Do we know if he made it to the pack, he was getting....??
I wonder if his partner started firing shots after one hour.

 

[jhm2023]

I thought I remember reading that with all the searchers and flying they never saw a grizz in where near the area. I know some of those tiny creeks up there can be deep enough for a person to disappear in for sure. I almost fell into one before that was less than a few feet wide but looked to be over 6 feet deep like it was a cut trench.

 

[DLIP]

It is known that fog rolled in shortly after he departed camp to retrieve the pack.
Given how diligently they searched, my wild guess as to a possibility, is his pack may have attracted a Grizzly Bear, or he may have simply encountered a bear in the fog. If a bear got him, it would likely cover him in tundra, making him hard to see from the air.

The only other possibility I ca think of is he somehow made it back to the road exhausted, someone picked him up gave him a ride, and he met with a foul end.

Strangely as impossible to believe, the "exact" same thing happened last year. I don't think he was ever found either.

Can you provide a link to what happened last year?

Also I have a hard time thinking grizz.

They found his pack and he had never made it there. And it’s tough for me to imagine a Grizzly burying his body and the search teams not discovering the burial sight as that would create quite the disturbance.

 

[DLIP]

Do we know if he made it to the pack, he was getting....??
I wonder if his partner started firing shots after one hour.

He did not make it to the pack.

 

[mooster]

Can you provide a link to what happened last year?

Also I have a hard time thinking grizz.

They found his pack and he had never made it there. And it’s tough for me to imagine a Grizzly burying his body and the search teams not discovering the burial sight as that would create quite the disturbance.

Be hard to see a griz burial sight. Had one bury our moose carcass last year and it was we’ll camouflaged. Would be especially difficult to see if searching from the air.

 

[Poser]

Be hard to see a griz burial sight. Had one bury our moose carcass last year and it was we’ll camouflaged. Would be especially difficult to see if searching from the air.

I believe I read that they put tracking dogs on the ground and they picked up zero scent


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[YellCoAR]

I was in that area a day or two before. Are those locations West or East of the road. We went in on the West side. No river on the West side in that distance. We may never know what happened to him. If he has not turned up by now not likely he ever will. There were several deeper water holes. A person will rise to the top in a week or so. Sad but a risk when we venture out in remote wilderness.

 

[YellCoAR]

Looks to have been about a mile farther South from us.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Be hard to see a griz burial sight. Had one bury our moose carcass last year and it was we’ll camouflaged. Would be especially difficult to see if searching from the air.

Every kill made by a brown/grizzly bear that I've seen, and I've seen a helluva lot of them up here the past 59 years, looked like a large beaver lodge had been constructed there. They're really, really easy to see from the air.

 

[BadEarth]

Looks to have been about a mile farther South from us.

We must have been close to you too. We were camped at 74.5 just north of happy valley as you drop down into that wet bottom. We were hiking out the second trip of my bull on Aug. 27 from the 5 miles.. crazy stuff. I remember late afternoon the fog rolling in

 

[long hunter]

Another reason to never travel alone, always go in with a buddy no matter what.