AK AK - John Wipert, 60, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, June 2009

This thread is for information and support.

http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jul/06/lodge-caretaker-missing-alaskas-remote-wrangell-st/

6 July 09

Alaska State Troopers are looking for the caretaker of the Ptarmigan Lake Lodge in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.

The Anchorage Daily News reports 60-year-old John Wipert may have attempted to take two horses from the lodge to Beaver Creek, about 35 miles away.

The last contact with him was in mid-June.



http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/interior/story/854625.html

5 July 09

Wipert is described as being 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds.

He has blue eyes and grey hair.

Anyone who may have seen Wipert or a man with two horses in the area is asked to call troopers at 907-883-5111 or 907-451-5100.

Troopers also ask that if anyone bought two horses from a man matching Wipert's description to call them.

more at link

pic

No updates for John since original articles.

I am under the impression he is still missing.

Alaska State Troopers - Active Missing Persons Bulletins

http://www.dps.state.ak.us/AST/abi/bulletin.aspx/PIO/recruit/AWT/docs/bulletins/perez.pdf

http://www.dps.state.ak.us/AST/ABI/docs/bulletins/Wipert.pdf

Project Jason

http://projectjason.org/forums/index.php?topic=6389.0

The Charley Project

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wipert_john.html

Bumping for John, now missing over 2 years.

Lost in the Last Frontier

[snip]

In the middle of June 2009, John Melvin Wipert was working as a caretaker at Ptarmigan Lake Lodge in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park when he disappeared with two of the lodge’s horses. He was unfamiliar with the area and is suspected to have been taking the horses to Beaver Creek.

[snip]

Wipert remains yet another unsolved Alaska mystery.

[snip]

Emerick, the Fandel children and Wipert are all just faces on flyers now. They circulate on the internet and local business bulletin boards with all the others who have vanished into the Last Frontier. All three are considered active investigations, and won’t go cold anytime soon. “Those are going to remain active, as far as being a missing person, until we are able to determine that that person has been found – dead or alive,” said Lieutenant Allen.

More: http://www.ktva.com/home/outbound-x...ast-Frontier-KTVAcom-exclusive-144048066.html

http://www.adn.com/article/20140720/missing-alaska-without-trace

Sixty-year-old John Wipert was the caretaker for the Ptarmigan Lake Lodge on the northern edge of the park when he disappeared in June of 2009. He posted a note at the seasonal hunting operation, saying he'd gone to check on an unnamed cabin.

"He left bacon in the sink thawing out," Striker Overly, a hunting guide from Tok, told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner...

"Once the foliage and the leaves fall off the trees and clear the way, we'll probably put some planes back up in the air and see if we can see anything that way," Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on July 13, and that was the end of it.

Click to expand...

NamUs: https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/26466

60-year-old John Wipert who in 2009 disappeared,was the caretaker for the remote Ptarmigan Lake Lodge on an in-holding in the Wrangell Park. In June, he left a note at the lodge saying he planned to go check on a nearby cabin.

“He left bacon in the sink thawing out,” a hunting guide from Tok said. “It was like he was planning on coming back.”

Wipert appeared to have taken a couple of horses with him when he left. Searchers scoured the known routes for horses for 35 miles west to the deserted mining camp of Chisana and 35 miles east to the tiny community of Beaver Creek in Yukon.

They never found any sign of Wipert or the animals. He remains missing.

https://craigmedred.news/2016/08/23/the-missing-in-alaska/

• 

Wipert, circa 2009

• Missing Since 06/01/2009
• Missing From Northway, Alaska
• Classification Lost/Injured Missing
• Sex Make
• Race White
• Date of Birth 05/13/1949 (74)
• Age 60 years old
• Height and Weight 5'8, 190 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, blue eyes.

Details of Disappearance​

Wipert was last heard from sometime in mid-June 2009. He was working as a caretaker at the Ptarmigan Lake Lodge in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve near Northway, Alaska; his duties included protecting the property from marauding bears. He hasn't been heard from since.

The lodge is situated only a few miles from the Canadian border. Wipert had been hired by the lodge's owner, Urban Rahoi, in May. Rahoi planned to buy him a plane ticket to the lower 48 states in August.

Wippert's absence was discovered when Rahoi dropped by with groceries in the first week of July and found the property deserted. One door had been taken off its hinges and another had its hinges cut in half. The freezer was fully defrosted and there was bacon in the sink and rotting food on the counter.

Two horses stabled at the lodge, a bay gelding and a black gelding, disappeared along with Wipert. Both are branded with a star and half-circle. He left a third horse in the corral and nine more in the stables. The horse in the corral was starving and dehydrated when Rahoi found it.

Wipert left a note saying, "Gone to check out the cabin. Back tomorrow night." However, there is no cabin within a day's ride of the lodge.

It's possible that Wippert tried to travel on horseback to Beaver Creek, 35 miles to the north. He had told Rahoi he wanted to go to Canada along the White River, and Rahoi recommended the Beaver Creek route instead. He left maps of the United States and Canada spread out in the lodge, and the Beaver Creek route was marked.

Wipert is unfamiliar with the area, and he left his driver's license and clothing behind. An extensive search of the area turned up no indication of his whereabouts. Foul play is not suspected in his case, but it remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency​

• Alaska State Troopers
• Tok Station
• 907-833-5111
• Fairbanks Station
• 800-811-0911

Source Information​

• Alaska Department of Public Safety
• The Anchorage Daily News
• The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
• The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• The White Horse Star

Updated 1 time since October 12, 2004. Last updated December 31, 2009; casefile added.

Interesting article

July 7, 2009

<<Along with the inexplicable things Wipert did before he left, there are more obvious clues.

"He had every map we had of the country laid out," Oderly said. "Maps of the area, and of Canada, with the route along Beaver Creek marked out."

On one map, Oderly said, they found a note reading, "Gone to check out the cabin. Back tomorrow night."

There is no cabin within a day's ride, according to the guide, and with two horses and a full pack, Wipert was clearly preparing for a much longer trip.

"I think he just went buggy being out there," Oderly said.

Rahoi, a veteran bush pilot, has been searching for the man and horses by land and air, with help from other guides in the area. Apart from a few sets of old tracks, they haven't had any luck.

"He's got a two-week head start on us," Oderly said. "And who knows if he's sold the horses or abandoned them, or what?">>