The body of Christiana Watt, a Ketchikan resident who went missing earlier this month, has been found.
Alaska State Troopers said someone walking the lakeside trail at Ward Lake, a popular recreation area north of town, spotted Watt’s body at about 8 a.m. Monday near the lake’s western shore, about 150 yards from the day use area.
The search for Watt had been largely concentrated on Ward Lake since she was declared missing two weeks ago. Troopers and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad had searched the lake using boats, remote-operated submersible vehicles, a drone, a diver, a helicopter and dog teams. The active search lasted roughly five days but was called off after not locating Watt or turning up any good leads.
Troopers called in the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team, a volunteer group based in Anchorage, which arrived just days before the passerby spotted Watt’s body.
Troopers said the volunteer rescue squad and the team from Anchorage were staging a sonar search of the lake when the call came in.
“We suspended active operations but we’ve been searching the lake both with video and sonar every day since but we didn’t have any real active search going on,” said Jerry Kiffer with the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad.
Troopers believe her body had been submerged since the search began and floated to the surface overnight Sunday.
Troopers don’t suspect foul play, though the State Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine the cause of Watt’s death.
