FROM THE BLOTTER: Search chopper busy over holiday weekend

MAT-SU — A spate of searches for missing people in the Valley over the holidays kept the Alaska State Troopers helicopter busy.

The first person reported missing was Maryan Selle. Relatives phoned Dec. 23 to say they hadn’t heard from her and she wasn’t at home on Palmer-Fishhook Road. Troopers said on Dec. 24 that they planned to dispatch a helicopter to search.

Later that day, troopers said they had good information that Selle had been spotted in Anchorage. At 4:30 p.m. on Christmas Day, troopers were able to confirm that information when they found her safe and sound, back at home.

“Selle reported she had been in Anchorage and had not been in contact with friends or relatives. Selle was in good spirits and thanked (troopers) and friends for their efforts and concern for her,” an AST press release states.

The helicopter was next called out Thursday when Sarah Graziano, 37, of Anchorage, called to say she and Rebecca Colwell, 32, of Anchorage, were lost south of Lynx Lake in the Willow area. The trooper helicopter flew in, found them near Skeetna Lake, and flew them back to their vehicle.

Neither was injured.

Finally, at 5:59 a.m. on Friday, Joshua B. Nyman, 25, of Wasilla, called to report his snowmachine had run out of gas near Mt. Baldy and he had walked to the Bench Lake area. Nyman said he’d been walking for seven hours, was cold and didn’t have a way out. The helicopter flew in and found him on a snowmachine trail at about 8:30 a.m. Nyman was hospitalized as a precaution.

Snowmachiner cited

for hit and run

TALKEETNA — Hit-and-run accidents aren’t uncommon in the Valley. But a hit-and-run driver on a snowmachine? That’s a rarity.

According to troopers, at 2:38 p.m. Dec. 18, officers were called to Talkeetna Spur Road and Main Street.

Troopers say Joseph Watson Jr., 38, of Talkeetna, had left the Twister Creek Bar on a black 2007 Skidoo snowmachine, speeding down Main Street toward Talkeetna Spur.

Watson lost control trying to turn right, according to a trooper report, and crashed into a 2002 Subaru Legacy driven by Amanda Stossel, 36, of Talkeetna, then left before exchanging information with her.

Troopers tracked him down, though, and cited him for having a snowmachine in the road. They sent charges of leaving the scene of an accident and reckless driving to the district attorney for review.

Rental truck damaged

in parking lot

POINT MACKENZIE — Mat-Su Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a hit-and-run driver who smashed up a rental car last week.

According to a Crime Stoppers press release, troopers were notified of the accident at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 20.

They say the rental was a 2009 Ford pickup left parked in a lot 1.5 miles from the Point MacKenzie store.

Troopers say the woman who rented the car parked it there early in the morning on Dec. 19 and came back the next day to find it had been dealt $8,000 damage by another vehicle, which was nowhere to be found.

Anyone with information is asked to call Mat-Su Crime Stoppers at 745-3333, submit a tip via the Web at matsu-crimestoppers.org or text a tip to 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword MATSU followed by the tip.