This reporter's post from 9/1 gives more details about BC.
"UPDATE TWO: I’ve just spoken with the family of Brian Collins.
He is the man who was camping with Steve Keel.
The two are good friends and have gone on hunting trips together many times in the past.
The family tells me Collins is devastated over his missing friend.
At this hour he is with Keel’s two sons at the campsite in remote northern Alaska and they are organizing a ground search.
They hope to make contact with someone with dogs to help in the effort.
And both helicopters and planes are expected to be up Friday.
Collins told his family after Keel disappeared Saturday he thought he might have become lost.
Collins told his family he fired his gun into the air hoping Keel would respond from a distance and find his way back, but he did not.
So Collins decided to hike back to the van on the road hoping to find Keel there.
He wasn’t and by then it was late so Collins stayed at the van and hoped he’d return to the campsite in the morning and find Keel back in his tent.
Of course, he was not.
That is when Collins used a satellite emergency beeper to contact authorities.
Right now he says he is at a loss to explain what happened.
At this point he could be lost … had a medical emergency … fallen in a crevasse or sink bog.
Authorities say, at this point, there is no evidence of foul play.
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UPDATE: Investigators tell me when Keel left the campsite he was in his typical hiking outfit and carrying a Glock .45, a compass and his cellphone.
Of course, there is no signal out there.
I understand back at the camp they did have a satellite phone."
