Denali search yields no clues

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Denali National Park and Preserve officials are trying to solve a mystery of how two women could vanish on a one-night backpacking trip not far from park headquarters.

Three helicopters, an airplane, dog teams and several dozen people on the ground have failed to find Abby Flantz, 25, of Gaylord, Minn., and Erica Nelson, 23, of Las Vegas. The search will continue today.

Holding a backcountry permit, Flantz and Gaylord hiked off the park road Thursday just 15 miles from the park entrance. They were spotted by other hikers a mile off the road but have not been seen since.

When they did not show up for work Saturday at Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge, a hotel outside the park, they were reported overdue.

The search began that day, and park personnel have scoured a 100-square mile search area that includes dense alder and willow, some black spruce forest, but also miles of open tundra.

No gear connected to the women had been spotted as of Tuesday afternoon, said park spokeswoman Kris Fister.

“It’s puzzling to us that we were not able to find any article of clothing, track, piece of equipment,” she said, especially since the search started so soon.

Park officials are considering all possibilities, including criminal activity, Fister said. The park has people trained in criminal investigations and is keeping Alaska State Troopers apprised, Fister said.

“There hasn’t been any evidence to lead us to think that took place,” she said.

Nelson had an extra incentive to return on time. She was scheduled to fly Sunday night to Houston so she could be maid of honor in her sister’s wedding.

The backpackers’ jump-off into the wilderness was the Savage River checkpoint, the last parking lot open to cars before traffic is restricted to buses on the park road. Flantz and Nelson rode a park shuttle bus to the checkpoint, about a half-hour ride from park headquarters.

The river was among the first concerns of searchers. Whitewater river experts hiked the bank Tuesday to recheck eddies and other river features. The river would likely have yielded clues if the women were swept away.

“Typically, gear floats loose,” Fister said.

High water last week may have discouraged a crossing, she said.

Flantz’s father, Jim, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he would fly to Alaska to learn more about his daughter’s disappearance.

“We are hoping she will be walking out of the woods and we can give her a big hug,” he said.

The women are equipped for surviving in the wilderness.

“We’re presuming they’re alive and waiting for rescue,” Fister said.