[chris]

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak aircrew, forward deployed to Kotzebue, rescued three teenagers stranded near Selawik Lake on Tuesday afternoon.

Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders received an agency assistance request at about 9 a.m. after Alaska State Troopers asked for help finding the overdue teens, ages 16, 14, and 13. They had left the previous day on a hunting trip aboard an 18-foot flat-bottom vessel and did not return that night as scheduled.

The teens had no overnight camping gear, but did have a cell phone last used at 5 p.m. the previous day. They became stranded on land after their boat broke loose and drifted across the bay.

While the Coast Guard aircrew was en route, an Alaska State pilot also assisting in the search located the teens and their skiff on the western side of the lake near a red cabin. The Coast Guard aircrew diverted there, landed, and met the teens on shore.

All three were reportedly in good condition at the time of rescue.