Searchers 'still looking for two living folks' in Alaska park

Pilots and ground parties continued the hunt for a Gaylord woman who hiked into the wilderness of Denali National Park last Thursday, and didn't return.

By TIM HARLOW and RODRIGO ZAMITH, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: June 18, 2008 - 1:40 PM

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The search continued Tuesday for a Minnesota woman missing since Saturday at Denali National Park in Alaska.

Thirty people with two dog teams combed through dense vegetation in an effort to find Abby Flantz, 25, of Gaylord, Minn., and Erica Nelson, 23, of Las Vegas, a friend she worked with at a lodge near the 9,500-square-mile park about 240 miles north of Anchorage. Authorities dispatched three aircraft.

"We are still looking for two living folks," said Denali Park spokeswoman Kris Fister. "There are a lot of scenarios out there that are of concern, particularly crossing rivers, but we expect a successful resolution."

Flantz's father, Jim, flew to Alaska on Tuesday. "All we know is that there has been no sign of them," he said. "We are hoping she will be walking out of the woods and we can give her a big hug."

The women set out on a what was to be an overnight backpacking and camping outing at about 2 p.m. Thursday. Abby Flantz and Nelson were to have returned Friday night, Jim Flantz said.

He learned of Abby's disappearance Saturday when the lodge where she worked as a housekeeper called and told him that his daughter had not shown up for work on Saturday.

Abby Flantz is described by her two older sisters as "a very outgoing, caring and adventurous person." Neighbor Dale Husfeldt called her "a free spirit."

She graduated from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School in New Ulm in 2001. "Teachers spoke of her positively," said Principal Timothy Plath. Teachers said "she was a very pleasant young lady, always very happy."

After high school, Flantz took some classes at Minnesota State University-Mankato and worked at the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center in St. Peter. In May, she took a job as a housekeeper at the Denali Princess Lodge in Alaska.

"I do believe she wanted a change," said Jim Flantz. "She was adventurous, but this was her first time in Alaska, and it is rugged up there."

He said park officials have told him that the women were well-prepared and had done everything they were supposed to.

Hikers followed the rules

"They checked in at the trailhead, they were registered, they had all the supplies they needed," he said. "They just didn't check out."

The women were last seen Thursday at the Savage River check station about 15 miles from park headquarters. According to Fister, the effort to find them will be concentrated in an area about 3 miles from where they were last seen.

Fister said the shuttle bus driver remembers dropping them off and other hikers reported seeing them a mile from the dropoff point.

The area consists of rugged terrain without trails ranging in elevation from 2,000 to 6,000 feet. The women are experienced trail hikers who had received their orientation from a backcountry ranger, but they had limited experience with Alaska wilderness conditions, Fister said.

Searchers have focused on camping areas and travel routes on Mount Healy and in the adjacent Primrose Ridge backcountry unit.

Searches will continue from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for at least another week, Fister said.

tharlow@startribune.com • 612-673-7768 rzamith@startribune.com • 612-673-4895

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