NEED TO KNOW
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A second body has been recovered after three heli-skiers went missing following an avalanche in Girdwood, Alaska, in March
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The three skiers were David Linder and Charles Eppard, both 39 as well as Jeremy Leif, 38; Linder’s remains were discovered in October
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The men were caught in an avalanche on March 4, but due to being buried under 40 to 100 ft of snow, recovery efforts were extremely challenging
A second body has been recovered after three skiers went missing following an avalanche near Girdwood, Alaska in March.
On Tuesday, Nov. 4, the Alaska Department of Public Safety confirmed in an update that a second body had been found following the recovery of David Linder’s, 39, remains in October.
“On November 2, 2025, DPS HELO 3 and a recovery team from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group were able to recover human remains from the slide area,” the release read. “The remains were taken to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for positive identification. Next of kin have been notified. The man’s identity will be released publicly once his identity has been positively confirmed.”
Officials confirmed in June that the three men who went missing were Linder, 39, of Florida, Charles Eppard, 39, of Montana, and Jeremy Leif, 38, of Minnesota.
On Oct. 7, the department revealed that Linder’s body had been “caught in a log jam in the river flowing underneath the avalanche slide area.”
The trio had been skiing with Chugach Powder Guides, according to the Anchorage Daily News. PEOPLE has contacted the company for comment, but didn’t immediately receive a response.
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Linder, Eppard and Leif are believed to have been caught in an avalanche at around 3:30 p.m. on March 4. Alaska Wildlife Troopers were first notified of an avalanche that day near the West Fork of 20 Mile River near Girdwood, according to the state’s Department of Public Safety.
“Guides from the commercial heliskiing operation that the group was with immediately attempted to locate the three skiers,” authorities said. “Using avalanche beacons, the guides identified a probable area where skiers were buried between 40 feet and nearly 100 feet deep.” However, the guides were unable to recover the three skiers due to the depth.
On March 5, poor weather conditions “prevented helicopter flights, Troopers, avalanche experts, and recovery teams” from assessing the slide area for recovery options.
On March 7, officials said that “due to a high risk of additional avalanches and the challenging location where the bodies of the three men are believed to be buried — the team has reached the consensus that recovery efforts are unfortunately not possible until conditions improve that allow for the safety of rescue teams who will need to spend significant time in the area.”
One of the victim’s brothers previously told NBC affiliate KTUU that the trio had grown up in Mankato, Minn., together and were on vacation together at the time of the fatal incident.
In the past 10 years, an average of about 27 people died in avalanches each winter in the U.S., according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Read the original article on People
