Las Vegas man missing in Alaska

Alaska search and rescue teams are looking for a Nevada man who went missing Monday night after his canoe flipped on a lake about 100 miles south of Anchorage, the state’s department of public safety said Wednesday evening.

Just after 9 p.m. Monday, public safety officials received calls about a flipped canoe floating in Trail Lake. Witnesses told authorities the only known occupant of the canoe was 33-year-old Matt Asturi, of Las Vegas, the department wrote in a release Tuesday.

Witnesses told officials Asturi had been drinking alcohol before he went out in the canoe and that they saw him paddling the canoe 15 minutes before the first 911 call, the release said.

Asturi was not wearing a life jacket, the release said.

Alaska state troopers and rescue crews from two fire departments responded to the southern portion of Upper Trail Lake with two boats. Searchers were not able to locate Asturi after an extensive search Monday and the search was called off for the night, the release said.

Crews continued searching the lake Tuesday by boat and air, and ground searchers walked the shoreline. Wednesday search efforts were mostly limited to the shoreline.

The water temperature in Trail Lake, the northern portion of which is frozen, is 35 degrees and visibility is zero, the release said. Cold air and water temperatures made search efforts difficult and caused malfunctions in diving equipment. After divers had to suspend their search, volunteers dragged the lake for hours, with no results.

Officials will drag the lake again Thursday and will continue combing the shoreline, a spokeswoman for the department of public safety said Wednesday night.

Contact Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Find her on Twitter: @lauxkimber.