Mon am -A short synopsis of events so far (this is added to periodically as events occur):Alaska State Troopers continue the search and rescue efforts today for Talkeetna resident Melanie Gould.
Trisha Costello, owner of Talkeetna Roadhouse and one employer of Gould said the last time she saw Melanie was Monday. “It was Memorial Day, it was just crazy.” Memorial Day is one of the busiest weekends in Talkeetna and Costello said they were packed, Gould was doing laundry and all other tasks and Costello said she didn’t have to stay longer. Gould smiled and said she was happy to stay and work. Costello, who is sometimes in at 3 or 4 in the morning, left at 5:20 and let Gould close up for the night. When Costello came in the next morning she said things didn’t seem as buttoned up as they usually would have been. When Gould didn’t show up for work, Costello started to worry. Meanwhile, others were worrying.
Gould didn’t show up for work at the Flying Squirrel Café and people really worried. Troopers had been contacted and checked her home. Meanwhile others had checked her home.
Her truck was gone, but her 12 dogs, including her favorite sled dog, Jane, were at her cabin. That really concerned Costello “She never goes anywhere without her, she’s by her side everywhere she goes”.
All her friends say she would never walked out on the dogs and a job. And it seems impossible that she would have just “gone off camping by herself”, as Trooper spokespeople were quoted saying several times.
By Friday, all Talkeetna residents knew something was wrong. A facebook site, entitled “Have you seen Melanie Gould” had been started. Troopers have since said there is a confirmed sighting of Gould on Tuesday purchasing gas at the Tesoro outside of Talkeetna. She used her credit card and they have her on video camera. She was alone in her truck.
There were reports of her being seen at Tangle Lakes Lodge along the Denali Highway and Cantwell, but those reports are unconfirmed and have become a bit confusing, it appears.
Troopers meanwhile, had distributed her information, truck license plate and description around the state and Sargent Troy Shuey said information had been passed to officials at the state border.
Friday at the public meeting in the parking lot of Talkeetna Elementary School, people listened intently to Shuey as he patiently tried to explain what they had done to that point and answered questions. At that point, troopers continued to protect Gould’s privacy in case she had just wanted to get away for awhile. He didn’t disclose the locations where they had heard Gould had been seen, but, officials had taken it seriously, since the troopers’ helicopter was trying to fly the Denali Highway at the same time Shuey was speaking.
The facebook site continued to grow and by Saturday had over 1100 fans.
Troopers reported that Gould’s truck was found Saturday around 12:30 in the afternoon. A trooper helicopter had tried on Friday to fly the length of highway but was unable to do so because of strong winds. Once the helicopter spotted the truck it landed and was unable to confirm that Gould was not there.
The truck had been parked along an old mining road-trail about 18 miles east of Cantwell. Trooper spokesperson Beth Ipsen said there was no sign of foul play “It looked like someone had just parked the truck and walked away”.
A more intense search began. On Sunday, a wilderness search and rescue crew of 14 people from Fairbanks and a canine unit from PAWS as well as Search and Rescue Dogs were on the scene. The searchers spent the entire day looking for any clues of Gould. Troopers say that the dogs were unable to pick up any scent of Gould. The search is continued Monday with three aircraft and 20 personnel and dogs.
The work done by the facebook group and those that became “fans” had intensified since Friday. People spread missing posters from one end of the state to the other, as well as Canada. Friend Chris Houlette in Fairbanks reported he had driven the Richardson Highway to Paxson and back, checking pullouts and campgrounds. Friend Bill Rodwell checked the Parks Highway and Denali Highway. It is not surprising that friends that drove the entire length of the Highway on Friday did not see Gould’s truck, since the troopers say that no one would have spotted it from the ground.
The facebook site by Sunday afternoon had over thirteen hundred fans. The 2 Amandas say they work on the site almost non stop.
Amanda Randles said they have no idea how many posters are up around the state. “There are posters in Barrow” she said, as well as Whitehorse and the Bellingham ferry terminal.
cont’d on Wednesday over a week after the disappearance… Troopers ramped up their search. PAWS, Mat SAR k9s and ASARD dogs continued to try and find a trail but the only place, according to Troopers, that the dogs found a scent was in the close vicinity of where the truck was found. Cadaver search dogs have been used as well as regular search dogs. Ground troops now include Healy and Denali Parks DERT searchers. Over 35 people are looking for Gould, one or two helicopters and several fixed wing planes. The facebook site is over 3,000 fans.
If anyone has information about the whereabouts of Gould, they are asked to call the Talkeetna Trooper post at 733-2256.
