Stampede Rd is a road outside of Healey that becomes a deadend trail of the same name. Depending on the type of vehicle driven, you can travel the road safely for some distance after it becomes dirt.
Mary's car got stuck where the road becomes dirt so technically, on Stampede Trail, according to my understanding. Once her Ford Focus left pavement she & the child were quickly stranded.
Mary was an Alaskan who had raised and traveled with sled dogs. Why she ended up where she did is so odd because IMO she knew the dangers of wilderness, which she drove into.
I really think something happened to her medically. A good search effort for her was conducted by LE. Unfortunately, due to the terrain & time lapse between getting stuck & the search, she is likely to not be recovered unless her remains are stumbled upon by a hiker or hunter.
In AK, that is the reality of getting lost in the wilderness.
Down here in the urban lower 48, we can't imagine that being an acceptable outcome. But when a search area poses risks to searchers in remote & harsh environments, that is frequently the judgment call made. Living & traveling in unforgiving terrain comes with many risks to life and limb, including the possibility of not being found.
Should more effort be made to find her? IMO, yes. Will more effort be made? IMO, no. Winter is coming soon & she is unlikely to be recovered before then.
MOO
