An Italian resident conducting research on Mendenhall Glacier is reportedly missing after falling into a hole where water was rushing into on Tuesday afternoon, according to a State Trooper’s dispatch report. Alaska Wildlife Troopers received a report around 1:45 p.m. on Sept. 2 that a man had fallen into a stream on Mendenhall Glacier and was missing after the water pushed him into a small, vertical opening in the ice. The man was traveling with two other people โ also part of the research team โ who reported the accident.
According to state troopers, Juneau Mountain Rescue deployed a technical ice rescue team to find the man. They discovered the roughly two-foot-wide hole the man had fallen into, but it was filled with rushing water. It was deemed too dangerous to attempt a rescue. State troopers are working on notifying his next of kin. This is the second incident this week of an out-of-state resident going missing while hiking near the Mendenhall Glacier. Thomas Casey, a 69-year-old hiker from Arizona, was reported missing on Sunday when he was overdue from a hike along a trail near the glacier.
