Kiokun v. State, Department of Public Safety

OPINION

EASTAUGH, Justice.

1. INTRODUCTION

Tort plaintiffs claimed the State of Alaska was liable for the deaths of three people who perished in bitter mid-January cold after they left their car in deep snow on a remote, unmaintained road. The plaintiffs claimed the Alaska State Troopers negligently failed to launch a search and rescue after hunters told the troopers late the afternoon of January 15, 1996 they had found an unoccupied car, a "HELP" sign and arrow stamped in the snow, and footprints heading east. The temperature was then forty-five degrees below zero Fahrenheit. About fifty-eight…