Missing Nashville businessman, woman found in Alaska after weeklong search

Kirsten Fiscus and Vivian Jones, Nashville Tennessean
Updated ·2 min read
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Two Tennesseans were found safe in Alaska on Friday evening, nearly a week after they were reported missing during a vacation in Fairbanks.

Nashville businessman Jonas Bare, 50, and Cynthia Hovsepian, 37, were reported missing on Aug. 12 when they missed their return flight and had not contacted family.

The two checked into an Airbnb in downtown Fairbanks on Aug. 9 and were scheduled to check out two days later, as well as return a rental car, Fairbanks police said. Personal belongings were found in the short-term rental and the vehicle was discovered Sunday at Chena Hot Springs Resort.

The resort boasts several miles of hiking trails around the area at varying levels of difficulty but warns that there is no cellphone reception on the trails, it is easy to get lost and bear or moose encounters are possible.

How missing Tennesseans were found safe in Alaska

On Friday evening at about 5:30 p.m., two hikers located Bare on a trail near the resort and brought him to the Alaska Wildlife Troopers search and rescue command post at the resort.

Bare was uninjured, and told troopers that he had left Hovesepian to seek help.

Bare guided troopers to where Hovesepian was located, about 3 miles away from the resort. They returned to the resort at 8:40 p.m. on Friday evening, and both received an emergency medical evaluation.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers thanked volunteer search teams and the Chena Hot Springs Resort for their assistance finding the two.

Missing Tennesseans not heard from after checking into Airbnb

Bare posted on Facebook a picture of the Alaskan Airlines plane he was to take to Alaska on Aug. 6. The next day he was having brunch in Anchorage, according to a picture on Facebook.

On Aug. 8 he posted a photo from Denali National Park and noted they were planning to leave for a base camp early the next morning. That was the last post on Bare's Facebook page.

Fairbanks police had called in the Alaska State Troopers to assist in a search of the area with helicopters, ATVs and search and rescue crews and dogs.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Missing Nashville, Tennessee man, woman found in Alaska: What we know