Alaska Department Of Public Safety,State Troopers Public Information Office

Dispatch Text:

Final Update 5/18/22: The Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers have concluded their investigation into the death of Sawyer Cipolla. After a thorough review of all of the facts and evidence, Troopers have determined that Sawyer died from hypothermia due to exposure to the elements, and no signs or indications of foul play or suspicious circumstances were found. The preliminary information from the State Medical Examiner corroborates these findings. DPS would like to thank the thousands of volunteers, dozens of agencies, businesses, and organizations, and the entire Kodiak community for your assistance with this search and investigation over the last week and a half.   

Update 5/15/22: On May 15, 2022, at approximately 12:30 pm, the Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers were notified that two adults recreating in the Pillar Mountain area had located a deceased juvenile. Alaska State Troopers and Alaska Wildlife Troopers immediately responded to the area. Troopers identified the deceased juvenile as 7-year-old Kodiak resident Sawyer Cipolla who was reported missing on May 7, 2022. There were no obvious signs of foul play identified at the scene by Troopers. Sawyer’s remains will be sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy. Next of kin has been notified. The investigation into the death of Sawyer Cipolla is ongoing.

Update 5/14/22: An update on the search strategy can be found online at: https://dps.alaska.gov/AST/PIO/PressReleases/Troopers-Announce-Change-in-Sawyer-Cipolla-Search

UPDATE: 5/12/2022, 14:00 hours. Crews, air assets, K9 teams, and volunteers continued to search throughout the day on 5/11 and are continuing with coordinated searches today. Kodiak Island Search & Rescue (KISAR) concentrated their search efforts in a prior search area to close any gap in coverage. No new leads have developed in the last 24 hours. Anyone with information please contact the Alaska State Troopers in Kodiak directly by calling 907-486-4121.     

UPDATE: 5/11/2022, 1000 hours. Throughout the day on 5/10, search dogs were utilized and multiple air assets including USCG, AK Army National Guard, and Deckload Aviation helicopters continued to fly the expanded search area while 300+ ground searchers continued to conduct directed searches.  Ground search teams will continue searching today. Four new K9 teams arrived in Kodiak onboard a USCG C-130 from Anchorage and will be searching throughout the day.  At this time no new leads have developed. Anyone with information please contact the Alaska State Troopers in Kodiak directly by calling 907-486-4121.     

UPDATE: 5/10/2022 the search for Sawyer Cipolla continues. Aerial assets (USCG helicopter and Deckload Aviation’s R-44) flew the coastline and search area throughout the day and into the evening of 5/9 with thermal goggles and FLIR.  Search dogs were deployed into multiple search areas and will continue searching throughout the day today.  Volunteer searchers will meet back at Bayside Fire Department (Incident Command and searcher staging area) at 1200 hours to begin the 4th day of ground searching. Anyone with information please contact the Alaska State Troopers in Kodiak directly by calling 907-486-4121.

UPDATE: 5/9/2022, 1800 hours, more than 400 ground searchers, multiple K9 search teams, multiple aircraft, thermal drones, and boats continued the search for Sawyer Cipolla on Kodiak Island today with no results. Search efforts will continue into the evening and night hours. The large scale of the search, and tremendous efforts by volunteers and search agencies continues to be outstanding. Anyone with information please contact the Alaska State Troopers in Kodiak directly by calling 907-486-4121.

UPDATE: 5/9/2022, the search for seven-year-old Sawyer Cipolla that went missing from his residence in Kodiak on 5/7/2022, continues.  There has been an outpouring of support from the community with as many as 950 volunteers searching over the weekend to include ground searchers, local pilots, and horseback teams. More than a dozen agencies are participating in the search including; Kodiak Police Department, City of Kodiak Fire Department, Bayside Volunteer Fire Department, Kodiak Island Search and Rescue, Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Wildlife Troopers, US Coast Guard, US Navy Seals, Alaska Air National Guard Rescue Coordination Center, K9 search and rescue teams from Anchorage and Mat-Su including; MATSAR, AKSSD, and ASARD. As the search continues, volunteers are requested to check in at the Bayside Volunteer Fire Department. Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Sawyer Cipolla is asked to contact the Alaska State Troopers in Kodiak at 907-486-4121.

A missing person's bulletin including a current photo can be found online here.

ORIGINAL Release: On 05/07/22 at approximately 1220 hours Alaska State Troopers in Kodiak were notified of a missing autistic 7 year old child last seen at his residence off Forest Drive in Kodiak. At the time of the report, the child had been missing for approximately 30 minutes. The missing child’s name is Sawyer but he responds to “come on in”. He was last seen wearing grey pants, camo top with hiking boots. Sawyer is 4.5ft tall, 55lbs, white male, brown hair, and brown eyes. AST arrived on scene and immediately started searching with no success.  As of 1845 hours, there are approximately 100 people actively involved in the search, including members of Kodiak Police Department, AWT, AST, City of Kodiak Fire Department, Bayside Volunteer Fire Department, Kodiak Island Search and Rescue, Coast Guard sector Anchorage/Air Station Kodiak and local residents.  If located please call 907-486-4121.