The abandoned bus where Christopher McCandless died in 1992 that would later inspire the novel, Into the Wild, has become the scene of yet another rescue on Wednesday, April 15. A 26-year-old Brazillian man ran out of food and commenced a rescue operation by Alaska State Troopers earlier this week, The Anchorage Daily News reports.
Troopers in Fairbanks received a notification Wednesday afternoon that Gabriel Dias Da Silva, a Brazilian national, had activated the SOS signal on his Garmin inReach device, according to an online report posted Thursday. A state trooper helicopter diverted from another unrelated mission found Dias Da Silva and transported him to Healy about 25 miles away.
Dias Da Silva was picked up on “bus side” of the Teklanika River, according to Troopers. He’d been camping for more than a week, and apparently got to the bus while ice bridges were still intact. But when it was time for him to leave the river was “open and raging,” and he became trapped.
Because of the high volume of search and rescue operations related to the bus, Denali officials voted unanimously in March to ask the state to remove it and rejected a bid proposed by relatives of the dead to build a bridge across the Teklanika, The Anchorage Daily News reports.
However, state officials have said they won’t remove the bus which is located near the boundary of Denali National Park and Preserve. But they did say they would be open to posting warning signs.
The online report involving Dias Da Silva’s rescue can be read below:
Location: HealyType: Search and RescueDispatch Text:
On 4/15/2020 at 1432 hours, AST Fairbanks received notification from IRCC of an In-Reach SOS activation by Gabriel Dias Da Silva, 26 of Brazil, near the Teklanika River. Helo-2 was diverted from another mission to respond. Helo-2 was able to locate Dias Da Silva and transported him to Healy. It was determined that Dias Da Silva was uninjured but had run out of food. He did not need further assistance and was released after receiving information regarding proper utilization of the SOS activation.
Posted on 4/16/2020 10:40:50 AM by DPS\mapeters
