The public’s help is being sought to find a Fairbanks man who went missing off the Dalton Highway three weeks ago. Twenty-three-year-old Dalton Hanson disappeared while on a moose hunting trip.
The official search for Dalton Hanson ended September 18, following what Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen describes as a multi-faceted effort.
Hanson’s mother Randi Van Blarcom says her son disappeared September 10th while 4 wheeling into a family hunting cabin about 10 miles off the highway near milepost 9. She says her son was travelling with his step dad, and they got into an argument about how to drive the ATV’s, and her son walked away without a gun or survival gear.
“He was going off for a cool-off moment… and just never came back,” she says.
Van Blarcom says her husband has been cleared of any wrongdoing, and she does not believe her son killed himself. She adds that Troopers have also dispelled the possible involvement of other hunters in the area. She says the extensive search covered a lot of treacherous terrain, including cliffs where her son could have fallen, or places he might have gone.
She says family and friends plan to return to the area on snowmachines as soon as weather conditions improve, and asks that anyone who wants to help, make a donation to the Dalton Hanson search fund at MAC Federal Credit Union.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
