Connect with us

News

Teen Who Set Off Avalanche Is Fourth Person Killed on Alaska Slopes This Month

Published

on

Teen Who Set Off Avalanche Is Fourth Person Killed on Alaska Slopes This Month

An Alaska teenager who was riding a snowmobile was killed on Saturday when he set off an avalanche and was buried, becoming the fourth person in the state to lose their life in a mountain slide this month, the authorities said.

The number is high for Alaska, which forecasters say in recent years has been averaging three avalanche deaths annually.

The 16-year-old, whose body was recovered on Sunday, was identified by the Alaska State Troopers as Tucker Challan of Soldotna, Alaska. He was buried under about 10 feet of snow while riding in Turnagain Pass in the Kenai Mountains, about 60 miles south of Anchorage.

The avalanche occurred on the backside of Seattle Ridge, in a popular recreation area known as Warmup Bowl, the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center said.

At the time, the center reported, there was a weak layer of frost about two to three feet beneath the snow surface, which experts say can easily collapse and cause an avalanche. The layers form when the weather is clear and present a hidden danger with each new winter storm.

Advertisement

“It’s like a layer cake,” Wendy Wagner, the center’s director, said in a phone interview on Monday. “It has been causing many avalanches.”

According to the center, a group of people who were riding snow machines — often referred to as snowmobiles outside Alaska — dug Tucker out of the snow in about an hour, but he had died from his injuries.

On the afternoon of his death, the center held an avalanche awareness program in a parking lot on the other side of the ridge, which it said was a coincidence. It is continuing to warn that people should avoid traveling on or below steep terrain.

Noting that avalanches can reach speeds over 60 miles per hour, Ms. Wagner said that snowmobile riders and skiers should not assume that the snowpack is stable because other people have crossed it.

“There can be a sense that if you trigger something that you can outrun it,” she said. “Just because there have been tracks on a slope doesn’t mean that slope is safe.”

Advertisement

On March 4, three people who were part of a helicopter skiing excursion were killed when they were swept away in an avalanche near Girdwood, Alaska, about 20 miles from where Saturday’s slide happened.

The authorities identified the three men as David Linder, 39, of Florida; Charles Eppard, 39, of Montana; and Jeremy Leif, 38, of Minnesota.

Despite deploying their avalanche airbags, according to the helicopter skiing company that the skiers had hired, they were buried beneath 40 to 100 feet of snow and could not be reached.

Ms. Wagner said this year had been particularly treacherous in Alaska.

“It’s been an unusual year,” she said, “tragically.”

Advertisement

News

Video: California Prepares for Governor Primary Race

Published

on

Video: California Prepares for Governor Primary Race

new video loaded: California Prepares for Governor Primary Race

transcript

transcript

California Prepares for Governor Primary Race

On Tuesday, Californians will head to the polls to vote in the state’s primary election for governor and other offices. There are dozens of candidates for governor, but one Republican and a couple of Democrats have risen to the top of the polls.

“The focus of my campaign has been on specific, positive, practical things we can do to help people. Your first 100 grand tax free. It’s ridiculous that we have people making salaries in California that really don’t get you very far. How about a guy who’s actually balanced a budget larger than the budget of the state of California? Xavier Becerra. And so at the end of the day, it helps to have experience. It helps to know how to handle a crisis. And at the end of the day, I better deliver. I’m only working for the people of California. I have no conflicts, and so I can actually work, be completely honest, and do the thing that needs to happen, which is to take on corporate interests who are driving up the cost for Californians who can’t afford to live here anymore.

Advertisement
On Tuesday, Californians will head to the polls to vote in the state’s primary election for governor and other offices. There are dozens of candidates for governor, but one Republican and a couple of Democrats have risen to the top of the polls.

By Jamie Leventhal

June 1, 2026

Continue Reading

News

A New Jersey immigration detention center on edge. What comes next? : Consider This from NPR

Published

on

A New Jersey immigration detention center on edge. What comes next? : Consider This from NPR

Tear gas spreads over protesters outside Delaney Hall, which is being used as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center, in Newark, New Jersey, on May 30, 2026. New Jersey state authorities announced on May 29 they were taking charge of security outside a US immigration detention center after clashes between ICE agents and protesters angered by conditions faced by detainees inside. Days of unrest have led to arrests as a tough stance by US President Donald Trump’s administration on immigration policy continues to draws opposition, including from authorities in Democratic-led states.

Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images


hide caption

toggle caption

Advertisement

Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images

A New Jersey immigration facility is the latest hot spot for protests against Trump’s immigration policy. What’s happening inside, and could the situation outside worsen?

The Delaney Hall Detention Facility has been the site of intense protests since last month, and they’ve become increasingly violent in recent days.

Family members of detainees say a hunger and labor strike has begun inside the prison, over poor living conditions and alleged human rights violations.

Advertisement

To control the tension outside, Newark’s mayor issued an indefinite curfew around the facility.

Mayor Ras Baraka joined NPR to talk about the curfew and where things go from here.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. 

This episode was produced by Michelle Aslam and Alejandra Marquez Janse, with audio engineering by Ted Mebane.

It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Tinbete Ermyas.

Advertisement

Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.

Continue Reading

News

Remains of Los Alamos National Laboratory employee missing for nearly a year found in New Mexico forest | CNN

Published

on

Remains of Los Alamos National Laboratory employee missing for nearly a year found in New Mexico forest | CNN

Human remains discovered by a hiker in a northern New Mexico national forest last week have been identified as Melissa Casias, a Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who disappeared nearly a year ago, authorities said.

The remains were found May 28, nearly 11 months after she disappeared, in the McGaffey Ridge area of Carson National Forest — nearly 15 miles from her home in Taos. A handgun was found alongside the remains, the New Mexico State Police said in a news release.

The state Office of the Medical Investigator positively identified Casias, but the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, police said. The remains will undergo further anthropological examination by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

State police declined to comment further when reached by CNN on Monday. CNN has also reached out to the Office of the Medical Investigator and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Casias, 54, was last seen walking along a highway near Talpa, New Mexico, in June 2025, state police said. She had left her belongings — including her purse, identification and cellphones — at her home in Taos, nearly 8 miles away. One of her phones had been factory-reset, NBC News reported at the time.

Advertisement

She was reported missing on June 26, 2025, after failing to show up for work and never returning home following a visit to her daughter’s workplace, police said. At the time, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety told CNN no foul play was suspected.

Casias’ niece and sister told CNN affiliate KOAT last year the family was desperate for answers.

“No matter what, we need to find answers,” Jazmin McMillen, her niece, told the station. “We don’t want to stop looking. I think regardless of what the situation is, if she left on her own or if there’s foul play involved, we just want to find her.”

CNN has reached out to her family.

Casias is among at least 10 people tied to sensitive US nuclear and aerospace research who have died or disappeared in recent years, raising questions and fueling online speculation about possible links between the cases.

Advertisement

Another Los Alamos National Laboratory worker, 78-year-old retiree Anthony Chavez, also disappeared in May 2025, and police have said there are no signs of foul play.

Other cases include a retired Air Force major general who has been missing since February, when he left his New Mexico home without his phone, prescription glasses or wearable devices. That same month, nearly 800 miles away in Los Angeles County, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot outside his home. The suspect pleaded not guilty last week to murder and related charges and remains in custody ahead of a preliminary hearing later this week.

The Republican-led House Oversight Committee announced in April it would investigate the deaths and disappearances of individuals it said had access to sensitive scientific information. The FBI has said it is also working with the Department of Energy and other federal, state and local partners to identify any potential connections.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending