Man’s body found months after ATV fell through ice, AK cops say. ‘Gentle heart’
The search for one of two people who fell into an icy river in Alaska more than two months ago is over, state troopers said.
A private pilot spotted the body of Skye Rench, 32, from Wasilla, on May 22 near the mouth of the Susitna River, Alaska State Troopers said in a dispatch.
Officials recovered the remains and took them to the state medical examiner’s office, where they were identified, troopers said.
Rench went missing March 6 along with another man, Sean Kendall, 42, from Anchorage, after the side-by-side ATV they were riding on fell through ice on the river in south central Alaska, McClatchy News previously reported.
Three other people were on the ATV and escaped the icy water, troopers said, but Rench and Kendall “were reported to have gone under the ice in the current.”
Kendall hasn’t yet been located, KTUU reported.
The men were on assignment for Alaska Directional LLC, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
The company offers services including directional drilling and utility installation, its website said.
Rench grew up in Alaska and “lived a life full of energy, passion, and love,” according to an obituary on the Frontiersman’s website.
He became an apprentice powerline man and then foreman, and he later started Helacomm Communications with three others, the obituary said.
Rench, who was engaged to be married, was a devoted outdoorsman and had recently competed in the Iron Dog snowmobile race, an online fundraiser said, describing him as “truly Alaskan to the core.”
His obituary added that he had a tough side but a “gentle heart,” and his “impact on everyone he met is something we’ll all carry with us. He’s left behind countless memories and stories that will live on forever.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Man’s body found months after ATV fell through ice, AK cops say. ‘Gentle heart’."
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