‘He will be here with us’: Dover woman hopeful missing husband will return for holidays

DOVER, Tenn. (WSMV) - A Dover woman is still searching for her husband who vanished on a hunting trip in Alaska earlier this fall. It’s been more than three months since Steve Keel went missing, and his wife said she feels the void.

The holidays are hard this year for Liz. It is the first time she is spending them without her husband of 38 years, Steve. She has one Christmas wish this year.

“I want my phone to ring, and I want it to be Steve,” Liz said.

Steve went missing in August while on a hunting trip in Deadhorse, Alaska. Since then, authorities there said they have spent hundreds of hours searching for him, and volunteers have traveled from Tennessee to Alaska to search themselves. Those efforts were called off in September due to worsening weather. Liz still doesn’t know where he is.

“Are you in denial that he may not come home,” WSMV 4′s Courtney Allen asked Liz.

“Absolutely,” Liz said. “You can call it denial or you can call it to hope.”

Liz said she hopes for closure this Christmas.

“No matter what though, he will be here with us,” Liz said. “He is always with us.”

Liz said they are working on arranging two more search groups to go to in the spring.

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