Search Continues for Missing Talkeetna Musher

Troopers say Melanie Gould was last seen gassing up her truck at a local station on May 31. Friends reported her missing the following day.

Tools

By Lauren Maxwell
Bio | Email

Story Created: Jun 8, 2011 at 8:01 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Jun 8, 2011 at 8:01 PM AKDT

 At the Twisted Creek Café in Talkeetna a missing poster of Melanie Gould hangs by the door.  Inside a friend is working on her laptop, updating a Facebook page with the latest on the search.

 
“We will get people who say they think they saw her here, they think I saw her there,” says Amanda Olson, a longtime friend. “It’s really just different ideas from people about what has happened to her.”
 
The alarm bells for Gould started last week when she failed to show up at one of her two jobs at the Talkeetna Roadhouse. Friends and co-workers said that simply wasn’t like her.
 
Also out of character was the fact that the seven-time Iditarod musher had left a kennel full of dogs unattended. 
 
“She absolutely was devoted to those dogs,” says another long time friend, Amanda Randles. “She's always made sure they are covered even for little things-it just does not mesh up.”
 
What troopers do know is that Gould was last seen gassing up her truck at a local station at about 3 a.m. Tuesday on May 31.  Friends reported her missing the following day. By the time troopers found her truck on a wilderness road more than 100 miles away, it was Saturday-she’d had five days to disappear.
 
“The truck was undamaged and it seemed to run so we presume she walked away from the truck on her own,” says Talkeetna Trooper Shayne Calt. “It wasn’t broken down or anything like that and we haven't seen her since.”
 
Troopers are searching an area outside Cantwell that could conceivably cover hundreds of miles. They say it’s quite possible that Gould is still alive.
 

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

KTVA CBS 11 | Anchorage, Alaska News and Weather and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.