A skull found 25 years ago in Interior Alaska has now been identified as a New York man who likely died during a bear mauling during the 1970s, troopers said.
A hunter told troopers in 1997 that he found a skull along the Porcupine River, roughly 8 miles from the Canadian border in an area northeast of Circle. The rest of the remains could not be found, but troopers said the skull was sent to the State Medical Examiner Office and the man's death was suspected to be the result of a bear mauling.
DNA was extracted from the skull in April 2022 and investigators used genetic genealogy to tentatively identify the skull as Gary Frank Sotherden, according to troopers. Sotherden would be 71 if he were alive today.
