Lost Denali backpackers found, reunited with families

Two women lost in Denali National Park and Preserve for nearly a week are back with their families. The pair was plucked out of the park by a helicopter around 5 p.m. today.

One of the backpackers made contact via cell phone with her family early today, according to National Park Service spokeswoman Kris Fister. Following the call, searchers moved their search area to a 100-mile area near Mount Healy, about five miles off the Parks Highway.

Twenty-five year old Abby Flantz of Minnesota, and 23-year old Erica Nelson of Nevada,spent over six days in the park since leaving Thursday for an overnight camping trip to the Savage Creek area.

A cell phone call this morning from Nelson to her mother, who came to Alaska during the search, tipped rescuers off to the women's location. Still, it took nearly eight hours to find the women today.

It's unclear as of this afternoon how the women became stranded in the wilderness, or how they survived for six days.

When the two did not report for work at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge on Saturday, rescue and search teams were dispatched to locate the women.

Three helicopters, a 10-man crew of rescuers and dogs and a fixed-wing airplane began combing the area near Mount Healy following the cell phone call, Fister said.

Fister said a news release sent out by the parks service earlier in the day was premature to indicate the women had been found instead of contacted. Two helicopters came back empty Wednesday morning after being sent out to pick up the backpackers in what was expected to be a short search.

Contact Derek Casanovas at 352-2284 or derek.casanovas@frontiersman.com.