A 72-year-old Maine woman was rescued and her 82-year-old husband was found dead last week after the couple got lost while walking their dogs and spent four nights in the woods, officials said.
Pamela Helmstadter was found around 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the woods, more than a mile from her home in Alexander, Maine, where she and her husband, John, had gone hiking with their two dogs on a network of trails on Oct. 2. Dec. 13, according to a statement from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
John Helmstadter.
According to the statement, the pair strayed off the trail and John Helmstadter collapsed and was unable to get up. Because neither Helmstadter had a cell phone, Pamela Helmstadter went for help but then got lost in the woods, officials said. She lost hope of rescue until on Thursday she heard a City Guard plane flying over her head five times.
The rescue operation began the day before after a concerned call from the couple’s neighbor who alerted authorities. A neighbor noticed the package on the couple’s porch on Tuesday and brought it inside, and the next day noticed the package was untouched and there was no sign of the couple or one of their dogs, although the other dog had returned home, according to the affidavit.
Game wardens and officials from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office began the search Wednesday evening and were later joined by Maine Search and Rescue Dogs and the Maine Forest Service.
Authorities said Pamela Helmstadter was severely hypothermic and her body temperature was 90.7, but she was conscious and able to talk to rescuers with her other dog by her side. She was taken by Downeast EMS to Calais Community Hospital for observation.
The department said John Helmstadter’s body was found about half an hour after his wife was found about 200 yards away.