Japanese adventurer last heard from May 16
Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services
Ellesmere Island (May 23/01) - An accomplished Japanese adventurer walking 15,000 kilometres from the North Pole to Japan is presumed dead.
Hyoichi Kohno, 43, contacted his support team in Resolute Bay one final time May 16. He was two months into his six-year trek. Tracking devices put his last steps some 200 kilometres northwest of Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island.
The Canadian Forces Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont. suspects Kohno slipped through the ice.
When Kohno failed to call his support team, organizers chartered a private aircraft to survey the area 1,000 kilometres north of Resolute Bay. Canadian Forces Northern Area Capt. Brian Martin said an aerial scan Monday spotted an unattended sled and a ski and ski pole near open water.
Resolute Bay RCMP Const. Jay Harris said search efforts switched from rescue to recovery Tuesday afternoon.
Kohno, a husband and father of two young children, was the first Japanese man to reach the North Pole solo, on foot in 1997.
Harris said Kohno's support team was expected to continue with a private search, assisted by the RCMP.
