Anchorage Daily News

Ground and air crews resumed searching today for two women missing on a backpacking trip in Denali National Park and Preserve.

Searchers and dogs looked for Abby Flantz, 25, of Gaylord, Minn., and Erica Nelson, 23, of Las Vegas. The women were reported overdue Saturday when they did not show up for work at a hotel outside the park.

They were last seen Thursday and planned to be out just one night.

Park spokeswoman Kris Fister said Nelson was supposed to be on a plane Sunday night to fly to Houston, where she was set to be maid of honor in a sister's wedding.

"So they had a reason to be back," Fister said.

Ground and air crews have searched nearly 100 square miles of the nearly 9,400-square-mile park. Searchers were planning to camp out Monday night about three miles from where the women were last seen, Fister said.

The women were seen at the Savage River check station about 15 miles from park headquarters. They had planned to return Friday. They also were spotted about a mile off the park road.

"Our concern with these young women is, they were only going to go in for one night," Fister said. "They wouldn't have gone in that far."

The area being searched consists of rugged terrain without trails ranging in elevation from approximately 2,000 feet to 6,000 feet. The two women are experienced trail hikers but had limited experience with Alaska backcountry conditions, Fister said.

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

"We need to feel we have searched the areas they were most likely to be," Fister said.

Crews in two helicopters and a fixed wing aircraft have been searching for the women since Saturday. Teams of ground searchers Sunday checked heavily wooded and vegetated sections that could not be searched effectively from the air.

Temperatures have been mostly typical of the season, with daytime highs in the 60s and nighttime lows in the 40s.

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