As is their wont, a pre-teen Willow girl stormed out of her
house Thursday afternoon after an argument with family members.
In Alaska in December, however, such a common childish reaction
can prove dangerous quickly.
Alaska State Troopers were called to the Caswell Loop area at
6:02 p.m. December 27, about an hour and a half after the girl
left her home and after her family had spent more than an hour
searching for her with no success.
A state trooper out of Talkeetna donned snowshoes and found her
at about 8:52 p.m., nearly a mile off the nearest road and
showing early signs of hypothermia and frostbite. A Willow
ambulance crew was on-scene and she was brought aboard, reunited
with her worried family and warmed up, she was otherwise
uninjured.
She explained that she became lost in the woods after darkness
fell. Fortunately, the below zero temperatures of last week had
warmed into the mid to upper teens, with a wind chill making it
seem two degrees out. |
