Identification pending on body recovered from Yukon River

A body was located Monday on the banks of the Yukon River near Eagle, Alaska.

A body was located Monday on the banks of the Yukon River near Eagle, Alaska.

Authorities are not able to say one way or the other if is the 26-year-old canoeist who went missing near Dawson City more than a month ago.

Alaska State Troopers were contacted by the National Park Service in Eagle the afternoon of June 30. Officials at the National Park Service reported the discovery of human remains washed ashore near the confluence of the Yukon River and the Nation River downstream from Eagle. 

National Park Service Law Enforcement Rangers responded to the scene after weather prevented Troopers from flying to Eagle. The body was recovered and was transported to Anchorage for identification.

Sgt. Dan Gaudet, an RCMP officer at the Dawson City detachment, said the body is currently being held at the Medical Examiner’s Officer in Anchorage awaiting autopsy.

Dental records will likely be used to make a positive identification, he said.

While Gaudet could not confirm the identify of the body, he said the Dawson City RCMP detachment notified various agencies downriver of the missing canoeist.

The 26-year-old canoeist, Tyson Foxcroft of Sarnia, Ont. who was in Dawson working for the summer, went missing last month after he became separated from his travelling companions while on a river trip to Fortymile. Despite an extensive search, no body was found.

Search and rescue teams found an abandoned canoe, two dogs, a tent, and a lifejacket which they believe belonged to the missing canoeist.