Body of boy, 9, found buried under eight-feet of snow after he fell down deep crevasse during snowmobile race
The body of a nine-year-old boy who
fell down a 200-foot crevasse in Alaska on the weekend has been found
buried under six to eight feet of snow.
Officials believe Shjon Brown, from Fairbanks, died after he crashed his snowmobile through a glacier on Saturday in the Hoodoo Mountains of Alaska.
Rescue workers recovered Shjon's body at around 12:40 a.m. on Monday, Alaska State Troopers spokesman Megan Peters confirmed.
'Recovery
workers reported that his body was located buried in six to eight feet
of snow underneath the snow machine,' she said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Recovering the boy's body was difficult because of the depth of the hole and the condition of the ice.
Rescuers were required to rappel into the crevasse and search the bottom where the boy's goggles and helmet were seen, along with the snowmobile.
His body will be transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsy.
The
young snowmobile racer had been riding the machine with his father at
the Arctic Man Classic and Sno-Go - a major snowmobile and ski race in
the Hoodoo Mountains in central Alaska.
The boy's father stopped on a hillside to watch his son as he rounded a snow mound and disappeared.
When the father went looking for the boy he found that Shjon had fallen into a deep hole in the glacier, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports.
Such holes - called mulans - can
spring open in glaciers when water welling up from a spring melts away
the snow beneath the surface.
A trained climber rappelled down the hole and found Shjon 's goggles and snowmobile, though there was initially no sign of the young boy.
Authorities were assisted by a team from the U.S. Army Black Rapids-Northern Warfare Training Center to recover the body.
The tragic accident occurred about five miles north of the Arctic Man Classic, where snow enthusiasts, using skies, boards and snowmobiles were competing on the weekend.
Officials believe Shjon Brown, from Fairbanks, died after he crashed his snowmobile through a glacier on Saturday in the Hoodoo Mountains of Alaska.
Rescue workers recovered Shjon's body at around 12:40 a.m. on Monday, Alaska State Troopers spokesman Megan Peters confirmed.
Tragic: The body of Shjon Brown, 9, pictured,
who fell down a 200-foot crevasse in Alaska on the weekend has been
found buried under six to eight feet of snow
Recovering the boy's body was difficult because of the depth of the hole and the condition of the ice.
Rescuers were required to rappel into the crevasse and search the bottom where the boy's goggles and helmet were seen, along with the snowmobile.
His body will be transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsy.
Crushed: Shjon, pictured, was found under six to eight feet of snow and his snowmobile
Father and son: The boy's father Roger,
pictured, stopped on a hillside to watch his son, right, as he rounded a
snow mound and disappeared
The boy's father stopped on a hillside to watch his son as he rounded a snow mound and disappeared.
Heartbreak: The little boy had been riding the snowmachine, pictured, with his father Roger
Snow fans: The father and son, pictured left and right on Saturday before the accident, were avid fans of extreme sports
Racer: The young snowmobile racer, pictured, had
been riding the machine with his father at the Arctic Man Classic and
Sno-Go - a major snowmobile and ski race in the Hoodoo Mountains in
central Alaska
A trained climber rappelled down the hole and found Shjon 's goggles and snowmobile, though there was initially no sign of the young boy.
Authorities were assisted by a team from the U.S. Army Black Rapids-Northern Warfare Training Center to recover the body.
The tragic accident occurred about five miles north of the Arctic Man Classic, where snow enthusiasts, using skies, boards and snowmobiles were competing on the weekend.