What Happened to the Bering Sea Gold Cast (former)? 2025 Update

For more than a decade, Discovery’s Bering Sea Gold has captured the grit, danger, and thrill of dredging the seafloor for fortune. Since its debut in 2012, dozens of miners, divers, and dreamers have passed through Nome, Alaska, each with their own stories of triumph, heartbreak, and controversy. While some — like Shawn Pomrenke — became long-term fixtures, others made a huge impact before stepping away from the icy waters for good. Their sudden exits left fans wondering: What happened to them? From Steve Pomrenke’s quiet retirement to Emily Riedel’s transition from opera to independent mining, and the unforgettable tragedy of John Bunce, the former cast of Bering Sea Gold remains as fascinating today as when they first appeared. Let’s dive back into the history of these familiar faces and uncover where life has taken them since they left the cameras behind.

Steve Pomrenke – The Legend Who Walked Away

Steve Pomrenke was a founding miner of Bering Sea Gold and co-owner of the massive Christine Rose dredge with his son Shawn. Born in 1952, Steve brought decades of experience to the Nome gold fields and quickly became known as one of the most successful miners on the show. He helped prove that large-scale seafloor mining could be profitable, hauling in some of the richest cleanups the series ever filmed.

As the seasons went on, tensions sometimes flared between Steve and Shawn over business decisions, including financing and operational risks. Steve’s no-nonsense approach and strong opinions occasionally put him at odds with his son, but it also underscored the challenges of running a multi-million-dollar operation in such a hostile environment.

By his late 60s, Steve gradually stepped away from the cameras and day-to-day dredging. His final season as a regular cast member was Season 9 in 2017. IMDb credits show him making only a single cameo in Season 10 (2018), and then sporadic appearances in later years — including Season 12 (2020), Season 13 (2021), and most recently Season 17 in 2023. These later credits were brief, not full returns, underscoring that Steve had largely moved on from the show. Now in his early 70s, he lives a quieter life. Many fans ask if Steve Pomrenke officially retired. The answer is yes — at least from full-time television mining. While he still has ties to the mining business and occasionally appears in brief cameos, Steve no longer captains a dredge or features regularly on the show. In practice, his step back after 2017 amounted to retirement from the relentless grind of Nome dredging and the demands of reality TV. Fans remember him as the man who proved there really is gold on the bottom of the Bering Sea.

Emily Riedel – From Opera to Dredge Captain

Emily Riedel’s journey is one of the most asked-about arcs when fans wonder what happened to the cast of Bering Sea Gold. She began as a classically trained opera singer who swapped the stage for a dredge deck, and she left as one of Nome’s most recognizable captains.

Timeline: From opera student to independent producer

• 2012–2013 (Early Seasons): Emily Riedel first appeared on Bering Sea Gold in 2012, in her early 20s, partnering with Zeke Tenhoff and quickly becoming the show’s first prominent female dredge captain. Her debut included dramatic diving mishaps — she has recalled nearly losing a glove to the suction hose — and a steep learning curve in Nome’s dangerous waters. She later revealed that the very first scene she filmed in 2012 never aired: she, Zeke, her father Steve, and friend Grant were living in a fish camp shack owned by one of Zeke’s friends, only to be discovered and evicted on camera. Producers admitted they were “extremely disappointed” with how awkward the group seemed, and the scene was cut. This little-known backstory adds context to how rough and unpolished the show’s early days really were, giving fans a glimpse of the raw reality behind Discovery’s hit. A defining moment in this period came in September 2012 when her close friend and crew diver John Patrick Bunce died by suicide at age 26. His loss deeply affected Emily and cast a long shadow over the show’s early years, shaping her resolve and emotional journey on screen.
• 2013–2015: Purchased and captained the Eroica, taking ownership from Zeke Tenhoff. Emily pushed through breakdowns, storms, and leadership struggles as she learned to run her own crew and assert herself as one of Nome’s only female mining captains.
• 2016 (Breakthrough Year): Emily experienced what many fans and insiders recognize as her richest gold season yet — arguably the most productive year of her dredging career to that point. Although Discovery’s episodes showed the Eroica at work, her strongest cleanups were downplayed or edited out. Emily later explained that producers preferred to highlight conflict, breakdowns, and drama over competent mining. The disconnect between her actual success and the TV storyline left her increasingly frustrated. This season became a turning point: proof she could run a profitable operation, but also the moment she realized that network television wasn’t telling her true story.
• 2017–2020: Operations stabilized. The Eroica became more efficient, yielding steady gold but fewer fireworks for reality TV. Emily earned respect as a serious operator.
• 2023: Screen time declined as she focused on building a sustainable business and personal life away from constant drama.
• 2024: Declined Discovery’s invitation to return. Instead, she and her husband Alex launched Season 1 of a YouTube series, giving fans direct access to Nome’s mining life.
• January 2025: In a video titled “I quit Bering Sea Gold”, Emily made her official retirement announcement: “I have retired from Bering Sea Gold.” She confirmed she had stepped back the year prior and was preparing Season 2 of her YouTube series.

Why did Emily leave Bering Sea Gold?

Emily explained that after 12 years she no longer wanted to be “a cog in the machine.” Editing often emphasized chaos or failure while glossing over her best cleanups. By producing her own content, she now controls the story, preserves her crew’s dignity, and highlights authentic mining economics instead of contrived TV conflict.

Where is Emily Riedel now in 2025?

• Still mining in Nome: Retirement from TV does not mean retirement from gold. She and Alex are upgrading the Eroica with new pontoons, rebuilt sluice, outboards, and a nitrox air system to mine deeper ground.
• Family life: After early years in a yurt, beach shack, and even Nome’s old hospital, Emily now runs a family compound with crew quarters. She and Alex are raising their son Arthur, and briefly relocated to Altadena, California in 2024–25 to “chase the sun.”

• Independent creator: Since leaving Discovery, Emily has leaned fully into independent content creation. On her YouTube channel (“The Emily Riedel”), she uploads updates covering everything from dredge repairs to claim scouting. Videos often showcase Eroica upgrades like new pontoons, sluice rebuilds, and nitrox systems, along with behind-the-scenes gold cleanups and vlogs about Nome life.

In July 2025, Emily published a video titled “Where have you been Emily?!” where she explained that the summer had been so overwhelming that she and Alex were mining non-stop during an unprecedented stretch of flat water in Nome. She apologized for the delay in posting updates, assured fans that more episodes of their self-produced series would be released later in the year, and even teased fun side projects like music videos and partner collaborations.

She also uses Facebook and Instagram to cross-post videos, share family updates, and engage directly with fans. Sponsorships and brand partnerships now help replace network income, and she has already produced Season 1 (2024) of her self-made YouTube series with Season 2 rolling out in 2025. Season 2 began on January 11, 2025 with “New gold dredging season starts now in Alaska’s Bering Sea!” (over 186,000 views), followed by updates like “Fixing the contraption that sucks gold off the ocean floor”, “The shallow Bering Sea gold deposits are gone. We must dive deeper”, and “No more jury-rigging. It’s time for the Eroica to grow up.” In May 2025, she posted “Biggest Dream Mat nugget yet. We’ve been losing these all along” (36,000+ views). In July 2025, she followed up with “Where have you been Emily?!” (18,000+ views), a candid update where she explained that the summer’s unprecedented flat-water weather had kept the crew mining non-stop in Nome. She admitted they were overwhelmed by the intensity of the gold season, which delayed uploads, but assured fans that more episodes would arrive later in the year. Emily also teased bonus content — including music videos and partner collaborations — to keep her audience engaged while the rest of the season was being edited. This pivot gives fans what Discovery often didn’t: an unfiltered, chronological look at real Nome mining without manufactured drama, making her one of the few Bering Sea Gold alumni to reinvent herself as both miner and media entrepreneur.

Quick FAQ

• Did Emily Riedel quit Bering Sea Gold? Yes. She officially retired in January 2025.
• Is Emily still mining? Yes. She remains active around Nome, just not on Discovery.
• Why did she leave the show? To gain creative control and avoid the distortions of reality-TV editing.
• What is she doing now? Running and upgrading the Eroica, producing her own YouTube mining series, and raising her son with Alex.

Steve Riedel – The Eccentric Father Figure

If Emily was the serious captain, Steve Riedel was the off-beat foil viewers couldn’t forget. He joined Bering Sea Gold in 2012 alongside Emily and Zeke Tenhoff after roughing it in a fish-camp shack and taking his very first dredge dives on Zeke’s early rigs. On screen he was comic, candid, and chaotic—but off screen he was also the dad who kept showing up when Emily needed a topside hand.

Return & exit timeline

• 2012–2013: Debuts with Emily and Zeke; early episodes show him learning to dive and dredge from scratch.
• Hiatus, then return: Reappears in Seasons 12 through 16 (2020–2023), appearing on multiple episodes credited as “Emily’s Father” or as part of “Team Emily,” before stepping away once more.
• Last on-camera work: Steve says his last “official” BSG work was an under‑ice dive with Emily’s crew in late winter/spring 2022, which was filmed earlier and later aired on the show. After that, he effectively retired from the series and stepped away from day‑to‑day dredging.

What happened to Steve?

By 2022, after his last filmed under‑ice dive with Emily’s crew aired, Steve effectively stepped away from TV mining and shifted focus to life in Anchorage. In the interview he explains he’s been living in Anchorage and developing a small property for housing, which is now his primary work. He’s not planning a TV comeback, though he still visits Nome to help Emily with seasonal launch tasks when he can.

In April 2024, Emily also shared a Facebook video titled “Journey to Nome: Slush Cup 2024” that featured Steve traveling north with her. The clip showed them stopping in Girdwood for Alaska’s famous spring ski‑slush event before heading on to Nome. It gave fans a rare look at their family dynamic off the dredge deck and highlighted how mining seasons often begin with long drives and community traditions, underscoring Steve’s continued involvement even after leaving the series.

Where is Steve Riedel now (2025)?

• Property developer, Anchorage: Focused on building housing on his parcel.
• Bush-flying prospector: Keeps a Luscombe 8E two-seat airplane and flies into Nome and Alaska’s interior. In early 2025 he spoke about plans to fly his Luscombe north — possibly timed with the musk‑ox qiviut harvest — to help Emily with launch before prospecting around the Granite Mountains/White Alice DEW‑Line airstrip with a pan and small backpack dredge. As of September 2025 it’s unclear whether he fully carried out this trip, but it reflects the kind of light prospecting and aviation‑based adventures he continues to pursue.
• Support role for Emily: Although no longer on the show, Steve still pitches in during crunch moments. In one recent instance, he helped Emily relocate equipment when she unexpectedly lost leased yard space. Today he mostly limits himself to light prospecting trips and occasional “top-hand” support, rather than committing to full dredging seasons.

A few telling snapshots

• How he got on the show: A shoulder injury ended his FedEx job; he went to Nome to help Zeke and Vernon on the Ranger, then Discovery noticed the crew and cast him.
• Early dive memories: From getting swept by strong current on Emily’s first jump to six-hour bottom times and a harrowing run-out-of-air under-ice scramble back to the hole—he’s seen the rough side of Nome.
• View on the future of Nome mining: Steve believes the best untouched pay sits on the ancient 60–80 ft beaches and that remote/crawler submersibles will be key, which aligns with the fleet’s recent push to deeper nitrox diving and crawlers.

In short, Steve didn’t vanish—he transitioned from reality-TV miner to Anchorage property developer and hobby prospector, still dropping into Nome as Emily’s occasionally “top hand.”

Scott Meisterheim – The Hot-Tempered Miner

Scott Meisterheim became infamous as the most volatile member of the Nome fleet. He captained the suction dredge Anchor Management during the early seasons (2012–2014) and appeared in 28 episodes, plus spinoffs like Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice (2013) and Back to the Dredge (2012). His run was defined by shouting matches, walk‑offs, and constant clashes with his crew — behavior that cemented his image as the franchise’s reality‑TV “villain.”

By the mid‑2010s Scott had severed ties with Discovery and Nome’s mining fleet entirely. He made a brief appearance on Gold Trails in 2015, but no further television work followed. His departure from Bering Sea Gold was final, and his notoriety shifted from on‑screen drama to off‑screen struggles.

After leaving the show, Scott’s life continued to spiral. Official Michigan Department of Corrections records list Scott Kevin Meisterheim (born July 8, 1967) as having been convicted of aggravated domestic violence in Kalamazoo County. His sentence began in October 2022 and he was discharged in April 2023. At age 58, his mugshot from October 13, 2022 circulated online, confirming that the long-rumored legal troubles were real. Around the same time, Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources filed multiple poaching charges against him for illegal deer hunting between October and December 2021 — including hunting without a license, using other people’s deer tags, transporting untagged antlered deer, and taking deer outside legal hours. In interview with conservation officers, Meisterheim admitted he wasn’t “the most ethical hunter” and acknowledged breaking the rules because he was “addicted to the venison.” These documented cases showed that his off-screen life had become as turbulent as his time on television.

As of 2025, Scott Meisterheim’s present life remains difficult to pin down. However, his Instagram account provides a few clues. In late December 2023 he posted a pan full of gold, captioned “1st test on new land,” suggesting that he was still prospecting in some capacity.

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By November 2024 he was sharing photos of small nuggets on a scale — one weighing just over two grams — with the comment, “Even the small ones are pretty.” These updates show that despite legal troubles and years away from Nome, Scott has remained connected to gold hunting, at least at a hobby or small‑scale level. While his exact location is unverified, some posts have been linked to Arizona. What can be said with certainty is that his legacy in Bering Sea Gold endures less for gold recovered and more for the combustible personality that made him one of the most infamous figures in the show’s history.

John Bunce – The Tragic Loss

John Patrick Bunce was a diver aboard The Edge, captained by Zeke Tenhoff, and appeared briefly in the early days of Bering Sea Gold. He died by suicide on September 1, 2012, at the age of 26, a loss that shocked both the Nome community and viewers around the world. His death was acknowledged during the show’s second season in 2013, turning the spotlight on the hidden pressures faced by miners in such an isolated, dangerous environment.

Bunce was born on November 13, 1985, in Portland, Oregon. Friends and crewmates described him as adventurous and free-spirited, someone who brought humor and energy to the deck. Reports after his death indicated that he struggled with alcohol and mental health challenges, issues not uncommon in the high-stress environment of Nome. His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered at sea off the southern Seward Peninsula in Norton Sound, the same waters where the fleet continues to risk their lives dredging for gold.

One of Bunce’s more memorable moments came during a dive when he encountered a massive wolf eel — a moment that Discovery later highlighted on its YouTube channel. The raw footage captures Bunce exclaiming “Whoa!” as the eel appeared, joking about its teeth, and nervously remarking on how scary it looked. Despite the tension, he pressed on with the dive, later noting the amount of gold around him. Zeke Tenhoff can be heard saying, “I couldn’t get all the gold that the Edge is capable of getting without John on board,” while Emily Riedel added, “He is an asset.”

Elaine Adkison 

Daughter of Vernon Adkison, she joined the Nome fleet in 2012 with no prior nautical or mining experience and quickly became a recognizable face of the family’s Wild Ranger operation. Over time she gained confidence and even captained the Bering Booty. In 2015, following the birth of her first daughter, Penny, she stepped away from full‑time dredging. She returned in Season 11 (2019) and again in Season 12 (2020), appearing in 27 episodes across her run.

On July 11, 2020, Elaine gave birth to her second daughter, Eleanor Olivia Yvonne Jones, and chose to step away once more. Since then she has not returned to the show, instead focusing on raising Penny and Eleanor while living in Homer, Alaska. While she keeps ties to the Nome mining community, her priorities shifted to family life. She maintains a Facebook presence, where she lists herself as a nautical captain and “Professional Gold Digger,” but her days of television dredging appear to be behind her.

Yvonne Adkison 

The younger daughter of Vernon Adkison, she appeared alongside her older sister Elaine in the early 2010s as part of her father’s Wild Ranger operation.

According to IMDb, she first gained official screen credit in episodes filmed in 2014 and later broadcast in Season 4 (2015), where she worked as a deckhand and dive tender. Later that same year, in December 2014, she was arrested in Nome after a year‑long undercover narcotics investigation; authorities seized heroin, cash, and paraphernalia. She initially pleaded not guilty but later reached a plea deal, and in September 2017 she was sentenced in Nome Superior Court to two years in prison, with credit for roughly one year already served at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, and was placed on three years of probation. After her release, Yvonne returned to the series in Season 11 (2019), appearing in episodes such as Unleash the Beast and Clash of the Titans, and continued with appearances in Season 13. Most recently, she featured in Season 16’s New Kid on the Ice Block (2023). Parallel to her brief television returns, she built a new career in cosmetology under the name “Hair by Yvonne 907.”

She has held active licenses in both Alaska and Arizona, and in Fairbanks she has styled clients at Beyond the Mirror, Simply Ravishing – The Salon, and Escape Hair Salon in Ester. As of 2025 she is listed as the owner and founder of Beyond the Mirror Salon and a master stylist at Hair by Yvonne, and she now lives in Chandler, Arizona. Her social media presence, with thousands of followers, highlights her work as a color specialist. Recent updates on Facebook show she remains close with her family: in March 2025 she took a road trip with her father Vernon from Los Angeles to Northern California, driving part of the Pacific Coast Highway while he reminisced about living in San Francisco during the 1960s. In October 2024 she celebrated Halloween in Sedona with her younger sister, sharing makeup and costume fun.

In August 2024 she marked her 32nd birthday with friends, posting that it was her best day yet and sharing photos of time by the river and celebrations at home. While she remains remembered by fans of Bering Sea Gold for her resilience on the dredges, her professional focus today is firmly on hairstyling rather than gold dredging.

Brad Kelly 

Patriarch of the Kelly family and captain of the Reaper dredge (formerly the Minnow). According to IMDb, he appeared in 115 episodes between 2013 and 2023, making him one of the most prominent long-time cast members. Brad was often shown leading his sons Kris and Andy in Nome’s mining scene, though his time on the show was marked by frequent family conflict and off‑screen controversy.

In June 2022 he was arrested in Alaska after an incident in which he assaulted a woman; police and court reports described it as a domestic violence case where he struck the victim with a wrench. He was charged with felony assault and later reached a plea agreement. According to court filings, he was sentenced to four years in prison with three years suspended, meaning he effectively served about eight months before release, followed by five years of probation. The conviction and sentence were widely reported by outlets such as TMZ and Distractify, and they cast a shadow over his long tenure on the show. Since his release and his final credited appearances in 2023, Brad has stepped away from television. His sons Kris and Andy have occasionally carried on mining in Nome without him, while Brad himself has remained largely out of the public eye.’

Daryl Galipeau 

A diver and deckhand who worked with Zeke Tenhoff in the early seasons, Daryl became known for his reliable presence underwater and straightforward personality. He appeared in both Bering Sea Gold (39 episodes from 2012–2021) and Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice (4 episodes in 2013), credited as a diver on the Wild Ranger and later with the Eroica Mining crew. He was especially active in Season 10 (2018) and Season 12 (2020) as a regular diver for the Eroica, and made a handful of appearances in Season 13 (2021). After stepping back from the show following that season, he moved away from television work.

In January 2024, Daryl revealed on Facebook that he had been working as a truck driver, hauling crude oil between Roosevelt, Utah, and Wellington, Utah. That month, he suffered an accident slipping from his truck, breaking his femoral neck bone, which required surgery to mechanically reconnect the femur head. By January 15, 2024, he was already up and walking again, reporting that doctors expected a strong recovery. In October 2024, he posted updates about preparing trucks for long-haul work, including trips to Louisiana for tank trailers. In March 2025, he shared that he made a trip to Angoon, Alaska, where he picked up a tugboat and transported it to Hoonah for maintenance, highlighting that he still maintains ties to maritime work despite his focus on trucking.

As of 2025, Daryl resides in Rangely, Colorado, where he is married. His Facebook activity shows him actively balancing trucking jobs with time in Alaska. Though he has not returned to Bering Sea Gold, fans still remember him as one of the steady and reliable hands in the unpredictable Nome mining fleet.

Ken Kerr

Ken Kerr joined Bering Sea Gold in 2018, quickly making a mark with his massive mining barge, the Myrtle Irene, operated under his company Arctic Sea Mining. Known for bold claims and a willingness to take big financial risks, Kerr positioned himself as a rival to Shawn Pomrenke and other veterans of the Nome fleet.

In October 2018, Arctic Sea Mining became entangled in controversy when a steel cable from the company was left stretched across Nome’s Port Road. A pickup struck the cable, injuring two local high school students. The victims filed a lawsuit in 2019 seeking damages of over $100,000, and the case continued into 2020. This incident, alongside other reported financial and operational troubles, cast a shadow over Kerr’s big‑money approach to Nome mining.

By Season 13 (2021), Kerr and the Myrtle Irene were no longer fixtures on the show. Since then, he has kept a notably low profile. Public records point to smaller business and property ventures, but there have been no confirmed returns to large‑scale gold dredging or to television. As of 2025, Kerr’s ambitious but short‑lived run remains one of the most talked‑about story arcs in Bering Sea Gold history, remembered as both audacious and ultimately unsustainable.

Gary Panos Jr.

Gary Panos Jr. appeared on Bering Sea Gold from 2016 through 2024, credited as part of Vernon Adkison’s Wild Ranger crew both as a deckhand and diver. Discovery described him as a “jack‑of‑all‑trades” — mechanic, fabricator, and trusted diver — who was essential to keeping the Wild Ranger running.

Unlike many captains who sought quick riches, Gary entered mining more as a hobby before becoming a dependable presence on the show. His chill attitude and strong work ethic made him a fan favorite, even if he never commanded the spotlight like leading captains. After his last appearances, Gary kept a lower public profile. There are no confirmed reports of him returning to television, though his skill set suggests he likely continued maritime or mechanical work in Alaska.