Troopers end active search for missing Eagle River woman who fell under ice

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Thursday 10:40 a.m. update:

Alaska Wildlife Troopers have ended the active search for Amanda Richmond Rogers, according to a Thursday morning updated dispatch.

Troopers, with Alaska Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team, the Anchorage Police Department and Solstice Search Dogs, searched for Richmond Rogers for four days using helicopters, drones, divers, K-9 teams, sonar, and remote-operated vehicles.

“Search teams have determined that there are no further areas of interest that are accessible to search at this time,” troopers wrote in the dispatch.

Troopers said additional search efforts would be made if more information comes in about where Richmond Rogers may be.

Wednesday 9:15 a.m. update:

The search for Amanda Richmond Rogers will resume Wednesday morning around 10:30 a.m. and will continue through daylight hours.

The Alaska Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team, Solstice Search and Rescue K-9 Team and Alaska Wildlife Troopers are participating in the search.

Tuesday 6:30 p.m. update:

The Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery told Alaksa’s News Source said they had to call off the search for missing Eagle River woman Amanda Richmond Rogers just before 3:30 p.m. due to frozen equipment. They said they would be picking search efforts back up Wednesday morning during daylight hours.

Tuesday concluded the second day of search efforts made toward finding Richmond Rogers, known to friends and family as “Mandy.”

The dive team has identified several spots that have been determined to be areas Richmond Rogers likely could be.

On Tuesday, two canines with Alaska Solstice Search Dogs joined the volunteers with the rescue team as a form of practice and to see if the dogs could help identify additional areas of interest in the search.

Austin McDaniel, the communications director for the Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that Alaska State Troopers need help with rescue and recovery missions involving open water, which is when the dive rescue team gets involved. The team uses technology such as Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV) — essentially an underwater drone — as well as sonar and divers to locate missing persons.

“At the end of the day, we will go through and see if there’s other areas of interest, [areas] we still need to search, and then make a decision on what type of search strategy or search tactics we might deploy tomorrow,” McDaniel said.

Tuesday 11 a.m. update:

Alaska State Troopers, in a Tuesday morning dispatch, identified the missing woman who fell under the ice in the Eagle River on Saturday as 45-year-old Amanda Richmond, whose family says was publicly known to many as Mandy Richmond Rogers.

At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, troopers resumed the search along the river and search efforts will continue until dark, according to the dispatch.

Her sister, Jennifer Richmond, provided Alaska’s News Source with pictures of the mother of four, including her dog Groot, which the family says Richmond Rogers attempted to save. Jennifer Richmond also provided the following statement from Richmond Rogers’ husband, Brian Rogers:

“My wife and I had just spent the last three weeks decorating the house, hanging Christmas lights, buying last minute presents, wrapping presents, watching our kids compete in the state wrestling tournament, and trying to get out all the Christmas cards to friends and family. It was the first Christmas we were celebrating since the passing of Amanda’s father earlier in the year. We wanted to make it special for visiting family and our 4 boys. After spending time with her mother and sister the previous two days, the 23rd was our day. We were married on December 23, 2005, making this our 18th anniversary.

“We planned to take two of our dogs for a walk, go on a date, and spend the night at the Hotel Captain Cook. It was a beautiful day. We chose to hike at the North Fork of Eagle River trailhead. We had hiked here many times and was one of Amanda’s favorites. We were having an amazing time watching the dogs play, playing with the dogs ourselves, and admiring the beauty of outdoor Alaska during the winter. We visited with a few friends along the way. We stopped at an especially scenic area along the river to admire the view. We were a bit tired so we laid down on the snow covered ice to rest and looked at the blue sky above and the cloud formations above the mountains. The dogs ran and played. A short ways away was a small opening in the ice with water flowing, no more than about 18 inches wide. One of the dogs went over to get a drink and fell into the opening. We ran over to the opening. There was only about a five foot area of uncovered ice downstream from the opening. I thought I saw a flash of a big white paw underneath the ice. Before even thinking, I was jumping into the water to save our dog. I held onto the edge of the ice as I frantically ducked under the ice reaching into darkness trying to feel and grab our dog. I felt nothing. I ran out of breath and jumped out of the opening. I took four steps down stream to look for the dog through the ice again. I turned around and Amanda was getting into the water. I knew from the look on her face she was going in to save our dog.

“She is an emergency room nurse, trained to help and save people. In this situation she was going to save our dog. I yelled but doubt she even heard me as she was completely concentrating on saving the dog. Before I could get back to the opening to try and grab her I could see her SWIMMING downstream under the ice and then out of sight. I waited and waited and am still waiting. To anyone wondering why we would jump in to save our dog I can only answer, our instincts took over and we went in without thought. Amanda loved her dogs nearly as much as our kids, they were our family. We have a room in our house dedicated to the memory of all our previous dogs. We have tattoos of our dog’s paws. Amanda has around 35 thousand photos and videos on her phone from our 18 years of marriage and a majority of them of our dogs. She did not jump in to save “just a dog,” it was a family member. To me and our 4 boys she died a hero.

“Amanda was an amazing mother and has raised four tremendous children. She worked as an emergency room nurse, a death scene investigator and a pediatric hospice nurse but the job she excelled at was mom. She enjoyed the outdoors, her family, all animals, and adventure. She has touched so many people’s lives for the better. I could go on and on and on. She was a beautiful person with a beautiful soul.

“Our family would personally like to thank the Rankin family, the first responders who responded that day, Anchorage Police and Alaska State Police, the search and rescue workers who have and will work to recover Mandy, my neighbors, Eagle River, the amazing Alaska State Wrestling community, my colleagues with Alaska Emergency Medicine Associates, the Anchorage Medical Community, Mandy and I’s friends and family, those who have or will send meals, and anyone sending thoughts and prayers. I know I am missing so many people but my brain is still in a fog. It is truly incredible the overwhelming support we have received during our crisis. We are blessed to live in such a special place. Thank you.”

Sunday 6:10 p.m. update:

When light returned to the valley, the Alaska Wildlife Troopers along with volunteers with the AK Dive Search Rescue & Recovery Team, were at the North Fork Eagle River Trailhead searching for the woman who went missing Saturday. Those searching were able to get to the site and cut into the ice, allowing the team to deploy technology that may have included divers, sonar and remote operated vehicles underneath the ice. The search on Sunday included several areas of interest that the dive team identified.

“It is certainly a tragic event for the family, our thoughts are with them, especially with the closeness to the Christmas holiday,” Austin McDaniel, the Communications Director for Alaska State Troopers, said. “But our focus is finding the missing woman so the family can have some closure.”

Rep. Jamie Allard, a legislator representing the area in Eagle River where the woman disappeared, wrote of the impact of the tragedy on the close-knit community.

“This incident is a heartbreaking tragedy, and it deeply saddens all of us.” Allard wrote in a statement. “The loss experienced by the family is beyond words, and they have my most heartfelt sympathies in this difficult time. This event is a grave reminder of how quickly situations can turn perilous in natural settings, especially near our river.”

Representative Allard encouraged the Chugiak-Eagle River community to come together to support the family. She also thanked the response from emergency services, along with search and rescue and safety teams, who often demonstrate their dedication to public safety.

Due to areas of thin ice and open water, the teams are operating their search and rescue operations when it’s safe for them to operate, Troopers said.

McDaniel said he urges people to be cautious of thin ice when using snow machines, ice skating, ice fishing and crossing bodies of water on foot.

“If you’re going to be on any frozen lakes, rivers, other type of waterways, make sure you know the depth of the ice,” McDaniel said. “With the interesting winter we’ve been having in Southcentral, Alaska, there could be a substantial amount of snow on top of very thin ice.”

Alaska’s News Source was at the North Fork Eagle River Trailhead on Sunday and talked with authorities and people who were at the scene. No one was willing to speak on camera about the incident.

The AK Dive Search Rescue & Recovery Team said on Sunday that the search will begin again sometime after Christmas Day.

Saturday 7:20 p.m. update:

The search for a woman who disappeared in the open waters of the north fork of the Eagle River Saturday after she and a man went into the water after one of their dogs has been postponed to Sunday.

The woman was in an open area of water searching for the dog and is now believed to be under the ice, Austin McDaniel, Alaska State Troopers Communications Director, wrote in an email. The man wasn’t injured. A helicopter was deployed Saturday afternoon in Eagle River as AST assisted in a ground search for the woman near the North Fork Eagle River Trail.

The man and woman were walking along the trail with their dogs when one of them went into Eagle River’s open water. The couple went into the water to search for the dog. The woman did not resurface.

Original story:

An aerial and ground search is underway in Eagle River after a woman was reported missing. According to Austin McDaniel, communications director for the Alaska State Troopers, she went under the ice in a river near the North Fork Eagle Trailhead.

The Anchorage Fire Department said they received a report of someone falling into the Eagle River in the North Fork on Saturday. The App, PulsePoint, had the original text at 11:46 a.m. of a rescue on Eagle River Road involving multiple units that were dispatched. AFD said that AST had taken over the search after a one-hour submersion protocol.

At last check, authorities have been unable to locate the missing woman.

Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.