Fishermen find body of Tununak man who went missing in April

The body of a Tununak man reported missing in April was found Monday in the Bering Sea near Nelson Island, a village search-and-rescue official said.

Alaska State Troopers said in a statement that fishermen from the village of Toksook Bay discovered human remains about a half-mile off the coast of the island. Tununak and Toksook Bay are on the island west of Bethel.

The remains belong to Jazmin "Duna" James, 26, said Harry Tulik, who coordinated the search group from Toksook Bay after James was reported missing on Easter Sunday.

James was respected for his backcountry skills, people in the village said when he disappeared. He was returning from a snowmachine trip with friends to another village in the region. They'd gone to get firewood, burned in steambaths, for the Easter holiday.

Searchers on Easter Sunday found James' snowmachine on sea ice, partly submerged in water east of Toksook Bay, Tulik said. But they didn't find his body.

[A respected outdoorsman was traveling to get firewood when he disappeared.]

The discovery provides a sense of closure to James' family, which can now give him a proper burial, Tulik said Tuesday.

"They are sad but happy at the same time that now they can put him into the ground and be at peace," Tulik said.