Teller Man Missing After Riding ATV Into Violent Storm

November 10, 2011|By Michelle Theriault Boots | Channel 2 News

Courtesy of Maggie Christofferson

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Teller man is missing after riding his ATV into Wednesday’s violent storm as it hit the Western Alaska village, Alaska State Troopers and the man's family say.

Kyle Komok, 26, was last seen around 4 p.m. Wednesday in Teller riding a yellow ATV out to a spit that separates the Bering Sea from the Imuruk Basin and is locally known as “the point,” said AST spokesperson Megan Peters Thursday.

Teller search-and-rescue volunteers are combing the area for Komok, who was out in severe conditions that included high winds and seas from 8 to 10 feet.

Troopers based in Nome are helping to coordinate the search, but aren’t in Teller because of continuing poor weather conditions in the area.

“The conditions at the time were high water and high winds,” Peters said. “Possibly he went out to see waves crashing in. We don’t really know for sure.”

Komok’s sister, Maggie Christofferson of Kodiak, says her brother is an experienced mechanic who was born and raised in the Seward Peninsula region and has intimate knowledge of the landscape.

“He knows the country,” Christofferson said.

Christofferson and Peters said conflicting reports of whether Komok was actually seen returning from the jetty area have opened the possibility that he may also have headed in the direction of Nome on the Nome-Teller trail that connects the two communities.

Her brother, she said, is an adventurous but responsible soul who “always made sure that people was OK.”

Komok has four children ranging in age from 2 to 7, she said.

“He’s a good family man,” she said.

Christofferson is flying to Anchorage and then Nome Friday to help with the search. She says family members are staying positive.

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