Gary Frank Sotherden was born in Upstate New York in 1951 to Lucille Spencer Sotherden and Donald V. Sotherden. He grew up in the town of Clay with his brother and two sisters, graduated in 1969 from Cicero High School, and traveled to rural areas throughout the United States and Canada after school. He was very calm and kind, but also a free-spirit who did the things he wanted. He was working on the trans-Alaska pipeline before he decided to go on a trapping trip north of the Arctic Circle.
In the fall of 1976 Gary went missing near the Porcupine River in northeastern Alaska, while trapping with a friend. Gary wanted to be in his own area, on his own side of the river. When nobody had heard from him by the spring of 1977, Alaska state troopers, search planes and his friend, a mountain guide, went looking for him. They found Gary's campsite, his driver's license and broken glasses, but no one knew exactly what happened to him. Twenty-one years after Gary went missing, a hunter found a human skull on July 23, 1997 along the Porcupine River, eight miles west of the Canadian border. The state Medical Examiner's Office suspected the man had been mauled by a bear, because the skull had bear teeth marks in it. In December of 2022, DNA testing was done on the skull that matched his brother Steve.
Gary is survived by his brother Stephen E. Sotherden (Joan) of Brewerton, NY; sisters, Jean S. Clune (James) and Ann S. Bunyan (Frederick Sathi) of Loveland; nieces and nephews James, Patricia, Bryan, Amy, Jason, Shantha, David and Jayanthi; and eight grandnephews and nieces.
son of Donald V. & Lucile
On July 23, 1997, Alaska State Troopers in Fairbanks received a report from a hunter that they had found a human skull along the Porcupine River around 8 miles from the Canadian border. Troopers responded to the area but could not locate the rest of the remains. The skull was collected and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office as unidentified human remains. The cause of death was suspected to be a result of a bear mauling. In April 2022, DNA was extracted from the remains. Cold case investigators used genetic genealogy to tentatively identify the remains as those of Gary Frank Sotherden of New York (who would be 71 years old if alive today). AST was able to contact a relative who provided a DNA sample. The relative also told AST that Gary was dropped off in the area where his remains were located sometime in the early to mid-1970s to go hunting. The living relative was notified of the DNA match on December 27, 2022, and the family was placed in contact with the SMEO to arrange for the return of Gary's remains.
In the fall of 1976 Gary went missing near the Porcupine River in northeastern Alaska, while trapping with a friend. Gary wanted to be in his own area, on his own side of the river. When nobody had heard from him by the spring of 1977, Alaska state troopers, search planes and his friend, a mountain guide, went looking for him. They found Gary's campsite, his driver's license and broken glasses, but no one knew exactly what happened to him. Twenty-one years after Gary went missing, a hunter found a human skull on July 23, 1997 along the Porcupine River, eight miles west of the Canadian border. The state Medical Examiner's Office suspected the man had been mauled by a bear, because the skull had bear teeth marks in it. In December of 2022, DNA testing was done on the skull that matched his brother Steve.
Gary is survived by his brother Stephen E. Sotherden (Joan) of Brewerton, NY; sisters, Jean S. Clune (James) and Ann S. Bunyan (Frederick Sathi) of Loveland; nieces and nephews James, Patricia, Bryan, Amy, Jason, Shantha, David and Jayanthi; and eight grandnephews and nieces.
son of Donald V. & Lucile
On July 23, 1997, Alaska State Troopers in Fairbanks received a report from a hunter that they had found a human skull along the Porcupine River around 8 miles from the Canadian border. Troopers responded to the area but could not locate the rest of the remains. The skull was collected and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office as unidentified human remains. The cause of death was suspected to be a result of a bear mauling. In April 2022, DNA was extracted from the remains. Cold case investigators used genetic genealogy to tentatively identify the remains as those of Gary Frank Sotherden of New York (who would be 71 years old if alive today). AST was able to contact a relative who provided a DNA sample. The relative also told AST that Gary was dropped off in the area where his remains were located sometime in the early to mid-1970s to go hunting. The living relative was notified of the DNA match on December 27, 2022, and the family was placed in contact with the SMEO to arrange for the return of Gary's remains.
Gary Frank Sotherden was born in Upstate New York in 1951 to Lucille Spencer Sotherden and Donald V. Sotherden. He grew up in the town of Clay with his brother and two sisters, graduated in 1969 from Cicero High School, and traveled to rural areas throughout the United States and Canada after school. He was very calm and kind, but also a free-spirit who did the things he wanted. He was working on the trans-Alaska pipeline before he decided to go on a trapping trip north of the Arctic Circle.
In the fall of 1976 Gary went missing near the Porcupine River in northeastern Alaska, while trapping with a friend. Gary wanted to be in his own area, on his own side of the river. When nobody had heard from him by the spring of 1977, Alaska state troopers, search planes and his friend, a mountain guide, went looking for him. They found Gary's campsite, his driver's license and broken glasses, but no one knew exactly what happened to him. Twenty-one years after Gary went missing, a hunter found a human skull on July 23, 1997 along the Porcupine River, eight miles west of the Canadian border. The state Medical Examiner's Office suspected the man had been mauled by a bear, because the skull had bear teeth marks in it. In December of 2022, DNA testing was done on the skull that matched his brother Steve.
Gary is survived by his brother Stephen E. Sotherden (Joan) of Brewerton, NY; sisters, Jean S. Clune (James) and Ann S. Bunyan (Frederick Sathi) of Loveland; nieces and nephews James, Patricia, Bryan, Amy, Jason, Shantha, David and Jayanthi; and eight grandnephews and nieces.
son of Donald V. & Lucile
On July 23, 1997, Alaska State Troopers in Fairbanks received a report from a hunter that they had found a human skull along the Porcupine River around 8 miles from the Canadian border. Troopers responded to the area but could not locate the rest of the remains. The skull was collected and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office as unidentified human remains. The cause of death was suspected to be a result of a bear mauling. In April 2022, DNA was extracted from the remains. Cold case investigators used genetic genealogy to tentatively identify the remains as those of Gary Frank Sotherden of New York (who would be 71 years old if alive today). AST was able to contact a relative who provided a DNA sample. The relative also told AST that Gary was dropped off in the area where his remains were located sometime in the early to mid-1970s to go hunting. The living relative was notified of the DNA match on December 27, 2022, and the family was placed in contact with the SMEO to arrange for the return of Gary's remains.
In the fall of 1976 Gary went missing near the Porcupine River in northeastern Alaska, while trapping with a friend. Gary wanted to be in his own area, on his own side of the river. When nobody had heard from him by the spring of 1977, Alaska state troopers, search planes and his friend, a mountain guide, went looking for him. They found Gary's campsite, his driver's license and broken glasses, but no one knew exactly what happened to him. Twenty-one years after Gary went missing, a hunter found a human skull on July 23, 1997 along the Porcupine River, eight miles west of the Canadian border. The state Medical Examiner's Office suspected the man had been mauled by a bear, because the skull had bear teeth marks in it. In December of 2022, DNA testing was done on the skull that matched his brother Steve.
Gary is survived by his brother Stephen E. Sotherden (Joan) of Brewerton, NY; sisters, Jean S. Clune (James) and Ann S. Bunyan (Frederick Sathi) of Loveland; nieces and nephews James, Patricia, Bryan, Amy, Jason, Shantha, David and Jayanthi; and eight grandnephews and nieces.
son of Donald V. & Lucile
On July 23, 1997, Alaska State Troopers in Fairbanks received a report from a hunter that they had found a human skull along the Porcupine River around 8 miles from the Canadian border. Troopers responded to the area but could not locate the rest of the remains. The skull was collected and sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office as unidentified human remains. The cause of death was suspected to be a result of a bear mauling. In April 2022, DNA was extracted from the remains. Cold case investigators used genetic genealogy to tentatively identify the remains as those of Gary Frank Sotherden of New York (who would be 71 years old if alive today). AST was able to contact a relative who provided a DNA sample. The relative also told AST that Gary was dropped off in the area where his remains were located sometime in the early to mid-1970s to go hunting. The living relative was notified of the DNA match on December 27, 2022, and the family was placed in contact with the SMEO to arrange for the return of Gary's remains.
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