ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A woman
survived nearly three nights in bitter interior Alaska cold by burning
her snowmobile and huddling with her small dog, Alaska State Troopers
said Thursday.
Vivian Mayo,
57, of Cantwell, was found at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, taking shelter
under the burned-out hulk of her snowmobile and sharing body heat with
Elvis, a small, brown dog of unknown breed. She was severely hypothermic
and in need of immediate medical attention, troopers said.
Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the troopers, said the dog likely helped Mayo preserve her body heat.
"It really did help save her life," Peters said. "Elvis is a little hero."
Mayo's ordeal began over the weekend.
She and her husband, Scott Mayo,
61, traveled on snowmobiles to a cabin near Mile 105 of Denali Highway, a
mostly gravel east-west road east of Denali National Park and Preserve.
The highway connects two paved highways but is not maintained during
winter months and is not open to cars and trucks.
Scott Mayo departed the cabin by snowmobile Saturday to check on a trap line that started 4 to 5 miles away, Peters said.
He
had not returned by Sunday. The Mayos were not due back to Cantwell, a
community at the west side of the Denali Highway, until Tuesday night,
and Vivian Mayo made the decision to return to Cantwell and seek help
for her husband.
She did not get far. Her snowmobile broke down Sunday about a mile from the cabin.
The
Mayos had told family members they would be back by 7 p.m. Tuesday, and
if they weren't back by 10 p.m. Tuesday, to alert authorities.
Family
members called troopers Tuesday night. Alaska Wildlife Trooper James
Ellison and volunteer rescuers headed out and found Vivian Mayo in about
three hours, Peters said. Mayo was starting her third night in the
frigid temperatures, which dipped as low as minus 20 degrees.
Her
mobility was limited, Peters said, and she could not simply walk the
mile back to the cabin. The burned-out snowmobile had been tipped over
and Mayo was using the shell for shelter, cuddled with Elvis, Peters
said. She did not know how Mayo ignited the snowmobile.
Mayo
at one point told rescuers that she saw wolves approaching but troopers
found no tracks or other indication of the predators.
Ellison
activated a personal locator beacon to alert the Alaska Rescue
Coordination Center in Anchorage and took Mayo and Elvis back to the
cabin. The searchers turned their focus to finding Scott Mayo.
Ellison
at 2:45 a.m. reported finding what he believed was Scott Mayo's trail.
He gave trail coordinates to the rescue center, which responded with a
C-130 airplane and a Pave Hawk helicopter.
Searchers
in the airplane spotted Scott Mayo at 5:13 a.m., just 2 to 3 miles from
the cabin, Peters said. Tracks from his snowmobile indicated he had
traveled much farther. He had built a small warming fire and was
reported in good condition despite starting his fourth night in the
cold.
The Pave Hawk landed and took Mayo back to the cabin before the Mayos were flown by helicopter to Anchorage.
Both
Vivian and Scott Mayo had been released from a hospital by Thursday
afternoon, Peters said. Calls to their home Thursday went unanswered.
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