He Vanished Without A Trace In 2022 While On A Caribou Hunting Trip In Alaska, And His Wife Continues Searching For Answers Over Two Years Later
In 2022, Steve Keel and his wife Liz had been married for 38 years. Together, they lived in Dover, Tennessee, and had two adult sons.
Steve was a Marine veteran and worked as an electrician. He was also a lover of the great outdoors and taught his children outdoor survival skills.
So, in August of that year, 61-year-old Steve and his friend, Bryan, decided to go on a caribou hunting trip in Alaska.
The pair had embarked on various hunting trips over the prior decade, but when they arrived in Alaska on August 20, 2022, this marked their first visit to the state.
After touching down, Steve and Bryan traveled approximately 500 miles north, near a remote region in northern Alaska known as Deadhorse. Their camp was set up close to mile marker 349 on Dalton Highway.
But it wasn’t until one week later that disaster struck on August 27, 2022. That day, Steve told Bryan he was going to get a pack of caribou meat, which he had left around half a mile away from their camp on the tundra the night prior, and claimed he would be right back.
This was the last time anyone ever saw or heard from Steve, as he has remained missing ever since.
When he didn’t immediately return, Bryan was reportedly not too concerned since it’s not uncommon for hunters to become separated. However, once a full day passed and Steve wasn’t back, he realized something was off.
As soon as Steve’s sons heard that he’d disappeared, they both went to Alaska to help search for him alongside Bryan. Tragically, no evidence of his location was ever found.
Tom – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Investigators reportedly conducted extensive ground searches and spent over $200,000 on helicopter equipment and fuel to assist the efforts.
Given Steve was on a hunting trip, though, he was wearing camouflage, which made the aerial searches tougher.
Additionally, the remote area where Steve went hunting has no cell service. So, only satellite phones work.
By September 2022, his wife, Liz, offered a $15,000 reward, but she ultimately withdrew the funds in January. She reportedly planned to use the money to cover the costs of four search groups as they kept searching for Steve.
At one point, on September 15, 2023, Steve’s loved ones thought there had been a break in his case. Search crews had found remains that were believed to belong to Steve in a lake.
This wound up being a dead end, as state troopers announced the remains were actually not human.
Liz continues looking for her husband and is determined to find out what happened to him. She has created a Facebook group entitled Search For Steve, where she keeps community members informed about his case.
Most recently, there was a search in June that yielded no clues, so there are plans to resume efforts in the spring.
“My heart says he is coming home, absolutely. My heart also knows no matter what, I will see him again,” she said in December 2022.
Since then, Liz has expressed how bringing her husband home and laying him to rest where he would’ve wanted is most important.
Steve is five foot seven and weighs 200 pounds. He’s believed to have been wearing digital camouflage pants, a Mossy Oak long-sleeve shirt, and a Realtree camouflage boonie hat when he vanished. Anyone with information regarding his case is urged to contact the North Slope Borough Police Department at (907) 852-6111.
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