My Bro;
Rescue effort ends in tragedy
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune
April 15, 2009
Photo provided
Bryan Farrow Intense rescue efforts involving three agencies and dozens of volunteers ended in tragedy Friday afternoon when the body of a missing Homer man was located just north of Caribou Lake.
Bryan Farrow, a former U.S. Coast Guard ship mechanic and rugged outdoorsman with community roots that ran deep, was located in the Caribou Hills area, separated from the snowmachine he was riding to meet friends.
Farrow left home around noon on April 3 to join friends in Caribou Hills, about 20 miles away. He reportedly spent the night with friends at their cabin, then left the next morning not long before Mt. Redoubt volcano exploded in its 19th and largest eruption.
It was the last time family and friends heard from Farrow, a man who knew the Caribou Hills area well and prided himself on surviving extreme conditions. When family called in concern that Farrow was still missing by Tuesday morning, Alaska State Troopers launched a massive search effort, along with volunteers from Snomads and the Civil Air Patrol. Initial efforts focused on the popular snowmachine area in the Hills 30 miles northeast of Homer.
According to Sgt. Ted Norgaarden, the trooper in charge of the search effort, the turnout to help search for Farrow was nothing short of amazing.
And while searchers turned out in numbers to look for him, the vastness of the area and recent ash fall hampered efforts to maintain a fix on his trail.
The ash sure didnt help, said Dave Masteolier, Snomads president. It made the snow melt quicker. Any trails on our (initial) hasty search followed main trails or any single trail and those started disappearing real fast.
Farrows lifelong experience as an outdoorsman, along with his training in the Coast Guard, gave him significant training for the rigors of the wilderness. However, he also chose it as a matter of lifestyle. Farrow hunted caribou, fished and loved spending time outdoors, said his 19-year-old son, Taw, who recently moved back to the area to spend time with, and get to know, his dad.
Farrows former wife, Patty, expressed some concern over the fact that searchers have been unable to find his snowmachine yet.
They havent found the snowmachine, and if they could, thats how we could see what went wrong, she said. Right now, they can only speculate it was an accident, and that he couldnt make it out. He had to walk, for whatever reason. He had to abandon the snowmachine and start walking.
An informal search is still on for Farrows snowmachine, troopers say. If the snowmachine were broken down or lodged in a creek bed, it could help explain why Farrow had set off walking. Troopers say they now are waiting for good weather to break, and then will take the helicopter back out for an aerial snow machine search.
In the meantime, Farrows friends continue to log hours searching for his snow machine on the ground.
The Civil Air Patrol, which combed the Caribou Lake area for three days, was able to locate Farrow's body. By then, ash was not posing a problem but heavy falling snow made visibility poor when the troopers flew in by helicopter to bring Farrow out, said Trooper Ryan Browning.
We were crabbing on the ground to find the powerline, Browning said Monday. There was no way then to fly and look for it.
While Mt. Redoubts ash may help supply some of the clues about when Farrow died, the ash fall likely did not play a role in disabling Farrows snowmachine, Norgaarden said. The trooper did indicate that, when found, Farrows body was dusted with ash.
That area didnt come under the initial plume (of ash), Norgaarden explained. It stopped about 6-10 miles out East End and the winds blew it out there later. He likely left before the ash fell, based on what was left and where he was located when we found him.
Snomad spokesman Mastolier said their organization uses a system for finding lost people that starts with a hasty search, where they concentrate on the main routes where a person is known to have headed.
Weve got to look at all the variables, Mastolier said. The machine could be underwater and maybe wont be found until moose hunting season. Or, it could be stuck where he couldnt take it out by himself. We dont know if he was back deep into the trees or the forest.
The Snomads also find people who have experience snowmachining with the missing person and ask if the person theyre searching for is a trail-rider or a boon-docker. A trail rider plays it safe, but a boon docker heads out into the country.
If they go boon docking, then its a matter of instinct where do they like to go, what are their favorite hills, favorite places, Masteolier said. Bryan was an avid rider. He liked to climb hills. Our guess is the machine is going to be off the beaten path.
Bryan Farrow grew up in Texas where his dad was a criminal investigator with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He lived in New Braunfels and Harlingen, Texas, and joined the Coast Guard in 1986. He graduated valedictorian from the Coast Guards Machinery Technician School, and was selected to serve as an honor color guard at the White House and several Washington, D.C. ceremonies.
In 1991, Farrow moved his young son and wife, Patty, to Kodiak, where he was stationed first on the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Ironwood, and then transferred to Homer in 1994, to the Point Roanoke Island. He worked as a mechanic on the engineering crew.
He was gifted at mechanics and in rebuilding engines in four-wheel drive trucks. He was an all-around guy, everyone liked him. He was a friend to anyone who knew him, said Patty Farrow.
After retiring from the Coast Guard, Farrow worked for the Kachemak Northern Enterprises Boat Yard, then started his own business, In the Hole Enterprises, which offered excavation services.
A memorial service is still being planned and will be announced later this week in a formal obituary.
Photo provided
Bryan Farrow and son, Taw, at Coast Guard Housing in 1994 in Homer.