Monday, May 19, 2025
48.0°F

'Into the wild' figure killed by police

The Associated Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 2 months AGO
by The Associated Press
| March 14, 2014 9:00 PM

 ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A relative says a man fatally shot by authorities in Alaska over the weekend was a moose hunter who found the body of a young wanderer whose story was featured in the movie “Into the Wild.”

Alaska State Troopers say 52-year-old Gordon Samel was killed Sunday night after he backed his pickup toward a Wasilla police officer north of Anchorage.

Samel was among three hunters who discovered the body of Christopher McCandless in an abandoned bus on the Stampede Trail near Healy in 1992. McCandless was made famous by the book by Jon Krakauer and film directed by Sean Penn.

Remo Samel, Gordon Samel’s nephew, says his uncle signed a copy of Krakauer’s book a few years ago after giving a ride to German visitors looking for the bus.

He says his uncle was a good man.

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Deaths prompt Alaska officials to remove 'Into the Wild' bus
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 11 months ago
Deaths prompt Alaska officials to remove 'Into the Wild' bus
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 11 months ago
Deaths prompt Alaska officials to remove 'Into the Wild' bus
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 11 months ago

ARTICLES BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

September 9, 2021 12:03 a.m.

The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland

WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

September 8, 2021 12:03 a.m.

The Latest: US helped family escape Afghanistan overland

WASHINGTON — The United States is confirming for the first time that it has helped a U.S. citizen and family members to escape Afghanistan through an overland route to a neighboring country.

September 8, 2021 12:03 a.m.

The Latest: Top Republican says Taliban holding Americans

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee says some Americans who have been trying to get out of Afghanistan since the U.S. military left are sitting in airplanes at an airport ready to leave but the Taliban are not letting them take off.