“I know what I saw. It folded up into a ‘V’ and fell a few hundred feet. I know what I saw,” Yerks said from the deck, motioning with his hands.

Eagle River’s Fire Station 11, Alaska State Troopers, the Anchorage Police Department and other state agencies set up a command post on Skyline Drive, near the Mount Baldy parking lot shortly after the 911 call.

Meanwhile, Anchorage Fire Department’s wildfire helicopter flew over the area, crisscrossing its search patterns looking for the paraglide pilot.

But the only sign emergency responders could find of a possible crash were broken trees in dense woods near Skyline Drive. The orange and red glider Yerks described to police was nowhere to be found.

Senior Capt. Jeff Bayless said it was unclear if there was even a paraglide pilot, much less a crash.

Bayless said it didn’t seem like a good day to fly. One of his crewmembers is a paraglide pilot and told Bayless that no local person would fly in the afternoon’s windy weather.

A police officer stood on the deck with Yerks during the air search, relaying Yerks’ approximation of where in the sky the paraglide failed as the helicopter circled overhead.

Yerks regularly watches paragliders from his second-story deck. He knows paragliders’ usual routes. This time Yerks noticed the glider was further south that normal.

Yerks eyes welled up with tears when he learned the air search had been called off and no ground search was planned. Police told Yerks that unless someone files a missing persons report, authorities would not continue to look for a paraglider.

“I’ll get my backpack and go up there myself,” Yerks said. “I know what I saw.”

Reach the reporter at jillfankhauser.@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, July 2, 2009.