Crews search Ward Lake area for missing Ketchikan woman

A search is underway for a missing Ketchikan woman. Christiana Watt, 48, was reported missing around 8 p.m. Monday evening near Ward Lake, a popular recreational area north of the city. According to Alaska State Police, Watt's car – a silver Range Rover Evoque – was in the parking lot of the Ward Lake Recreation Area with his phone and wallet inside.

Troopers teamed up with the U.S. Forest Service and the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Squad to search the area.

“Last night we sent out our dispatch crews and ground crews and searched almost all of the surrounding trails,” said North Tongass Fire Chief Jerry Kiffer, who is working with the volunteer rescue team. “We operated until about two or three in the morning.”

Kiffer said they hiked most of the hiking trails in the hours after Watt disappeared. On Tuesday, Troopers called in a search and rescue canine team from Juneau, called SEADOGS, to help survey the heavily wooded area.

Kiffer said no one saw Watt the day his car was found in Ward Lake or the day before. But hours before Troopers reported him missing, his Apple Watch received a ping.

“What we now know was [Bluetooth-connected] on the cell phone, and the Apple Watch confirmed that she was there – or that the Apple Watch was there – around 12:30 in the afternoon,” Kiffer said.

The U.S. Forest Service has advised people to avoid the Ward Lake area while the search is underway. Kiffer said they are focusing their search on the shores of the lake and its tributaries by foot, boat and helicopter. They also search Ward Cove, where water flows from the lake into the Tongass Narrows.

Search teams have found several clues, Kiffer said, but none can yet be directly linked to Watt. It is not known what she was wearing when she disappeared.

Kiffer added that the Ketchikan Volunteer Rescue Team and state troopers wanted to speak to anyone who was in the Ward Lake area between the morning and afternoon of Monday who may have seen a white woman with long brown hair, or anyone swimming in water. the lake, mainly at the north end, near the day-use area.

At this time, Troopers are not considering Watt's disappearance suspicious.

Anyone with contact or information regarding Christiana Watt is asked to contact Alaska State Troopers in Ketchikan at 907-225-5118 and reference incident AK24055622.