Alaska News

Search continues for missing Talkeetna musher

UPDATED 7 p.m. June 4: State troopers found Melanie Gould's abandoned Toyota pickup, but they still haven't located the dog musher. Her truck was found Saturday afternoon near the Denali Highway. The exact location has not been released. Anyone with information on Gould's whereabouts should contact Alaska State Troopers at 907-733-2256. Here's our last story on the missing musher.

Melanie Gould, a longtime resident of Talkeetna, Alaska and multiple-Iditarod finisher -- including a top-20 finish in 2006 -- has been reported missing by concerned friends. A flier began circulating Friday as a search was organized with a goal of getting under way by Friday afternoon.

Heidi Sutter, an acquaintance of Gould's and fellow musher who works at MacLaren River Lodge on the Denali Highway -- northwest of Talkeetna, where Gould lived, worked, and maintained a small dog kennel -- said the search party plans to travel north along the Parks Highway toward Denali National Park, and south toward Anchorage.

"We hope we'll find the vehicle, then spread out from there," Sutter said.

Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said that while Gould is "on our radar," and her friends "have concerns about her," troopers have not opened a missing persons report.

"We have looked into it some," Peters said, "and we've been able to verify that she'd been in two different locations." Peters also said troopers had verified Gould's location "in the last couple of days."

The flier issued Friday says that the last she was seen for sure was Monday afternoon, maybe Monday evening, and Sutter said she hadn't heard about additional information, despite a missing person report being filed with troopers in Talkeetna on Friday morning.

ADVERTISEMENT

According to the missing person flier, Gould was last seen on Monday when she clocked out from her job at the Talkeetna Roadhouse around 5:20 p.m.

"It's possible she was then seen driving north on the Parks Highway that evening," the flier says. Sutter said that Gould was possibly seen on Tuesday, eating a burger at the Tangle River Inn on the Denali Highway, which forks east from the Parks Highway near Cantwell.

According to Sutter, Gould lived alone and wasn't having any personal problems "that I was aware of."

"Nothing has been mentioned by anybody," she said, "I know that she's kind of a quiet person."

Her sudden disappearance worried her friends in Talkeetna and the mushing community, especially since she left behind her dogs.

"She was supposed to show up to work on Wednesday," Sutter said. "She never showed, and she hadn't done anything with her dogs." She added that neighbors and friends had taken in groups of dogs or individual animals in Gould's absence.

Even though Peters said the troopers weren't treating Gould's disappearance as a missing persons case, she said that they would like to know Gould is alright.

"As an adult, she has the right to her privacy," Peters said. "We really can't put out information on her location. It's on our radar, it's in our system, and we'd like to make contact with her."

A Facebook page, "Have you seen Melanie Gould?" sprung up early Friday afternoon, and had more than 230 followers as of this writing.

Gould is described as 34 years old, 145 pounds, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with blond hair and blue eyes. She was driving a mid-1990s, light blue Toyota truck with a topper. Anyone with information is asked to call Alaska State Troopers at 907-733-2256.

CORRECTION: This story originally reported that Troopers had spoken with Gould in the last couple of days. They had only verified her location, but not spoken with her. They would still like to speak with her to perform a check for her well-being. We regret the error.

Contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com

Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson is a former writer and editor for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

ADVERTISEMENT