Missing for more than a week, Talkeetna musher Melanie Gould contacted Alaska State Troopers in Cantwell today. Troopers say Gould, 34, was not in danger, but she is being transported to the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center.
“She is safe and doing well,” said Megan Peters, Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman. Peters would not release further details about Gould’s whereabouts since she left Talkeetna, her condition or why she was in Cantwell. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race veteran was last seen on May 31 at 3:20 a.m. at the Sunshine Tesoro in Talkeetna buying fuel for her car and bottled water. After Gould failed to report to work later that day, her friends became concerned because they said it was “unlike Melanie” to leave her dog team behind. A wildlife trooper found Gould’s unoccupied pickup truck Saturday, June 4 on the side of the road on the Denali Highway, about 18 miles away from Cantwell. Alaska State Troopers conducted a widespread search for Gould by air and by foot around the Denali Highway, but suspended it Thursday, June 9 because they did not find any other clues. KTVA-CBS 11 is following this story as it develops, more details to come.
