Russia returns Alaska man who crossed Bering Sea in dinghy

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – An Alaska man is back in the United States after he was detained in Russia for six months.

The Anchorage Daily News reports John Martin III arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

Martin in July sailed from the Alaska village of Emmonak in an 8-foot dinghy across the Bering Sea. His goal was reaching China to be reunited with his wife and son.

Martin instead after two weeks washed up on a beach on Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula without money or a passport.

He was held for months at a Siberian hospital and then detained in what he described as a prison in Moscow to await deportation.

Martin was a homeless advocate in Anchorage. He wrote on his website that he expects to return to Anchorage on Sunday.

Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com