AK AK - Mary Dawn Wilson, 69 - 2-YO Grandchild Found Locked in Abandoned Car, Healy, 12 July 2022

[WingsOverTX]

Can you give us some details on the area the car became stuck and where she would have walked? Could she have fallen off a cliff, bears, river? How in your opinion could she have simply vanished and not be found? Thank you for joining!!

Maybe MDW did not know the road ends in a trail not navigable by most vehicles & certainly not a Ford Focus.

"Stampede is paved to mile 4 and then it is drivable in most cars to about Mile 5. High clearance and/or four wheel drive is necessary to go farther. The remainder of the route consists of a primitive, remote and at times dangerous hiking trail, following a path where the original road had deteriorated. The road ends at an abandoned antimony mine at along Stampede Creek."

What you need to know about driving the Stampede Trail in Alaska

Stampede Trail is a remote mountain road located within the Denal

www.dangerousroads.org

BBM

 

[FlossyMay]

Pics show how dangerous it would be to try to drive a car on the trail. Stampede Trail II

Oh my gosh!

 

[Stunned]

Pics show how dangerous it would be to try to drive a car on the trail. Stampede Trail II

The questions beg to be asked: Why was she there? Where was she going?

 

[muddlehead]

Well, the only factual clue I've seen in 3 pages is "some articles of clothing (Mary Wilson's) were found about a mile away". Why are the police so vague about the specific items of clothing? Was it a sweatshirt/sweater/jacket or something more intimate? Only question I can think of is how do they know the clothes were Grandma's?

 

[FlossyMay]

She supposedly spent the night at someone's house the night before and left that morning. I'm sure they told LE what she was wearing. I'm curious who she spent the night with and why.

 

[LaborDayRN]

Can you give us some details on the area the car became stuck and where she would have walked? Could she have fallen off a cliff, bears, river? How in your opinion could she have simply vanished and not be found? Thank you for joining!!

I'm very concerned about wildlife. I wonder what condition the clothing was in that LE found.

 

[muddlehead]

She supposedly spent the night at someone's house the night before and left that morning. I'm sure they told LE what she was wearing. I'm curious who she spent the night with and why.

Ok. Not sure I could remember for the police what clothes a guest was wearing when s/he left the house. Just me.

 

[SimplyCass]

Ok. Not sure I could remember for the police what clothes a guest was wearing when s/he left the house. Just me.

I generally agree that it would be hard to remember, except for two fairly plausible scenarios: group photo/selfie taken that night OR security camera footage. I have an entry-level Reolink camera pointed at the front door that starts recording whenever it detects motion.

 

[SuziQ]

Could this be a case of GPS misadventure?

 

[Stunned]

Could this be a case of GPS misadventure?

I would think if she had GPS, she had a phone.

 

[WingsOverTX]

Could this be a case of GPS misadventure?

It could. I contemplated that.

However, I think she had lived in Alaska a long time (maybe her entire life?). She had to be well aware of the dangers of being on a rutted dirt road in a wilderness area.

Perhaps something happened to her mentally or medically. Having full-time care of a two-year-old at her age would have been exhausting, I think, even if she wasn't traveling.

I have watched a 72 yr old grandmother trying to raise a normal energetic 5 yr old granddaughter. Not easy!

Elders can be so giving they stretch themselves too thin. From what I've read about her, it seems like her community loves and admires her.

I wish a group would continue searching for her. Summer is so short there so the window of opportunity to find her this year is too.

JMO

 

[musicaljoke]

What on earth could cause a grandma to leave behind a two year old grandchild in her locked car while leaving herself after the car got stuck?

Since it rained while they were stuck she probably had access to water, but she might have gone out to look for berries. Who knows? I hope she is found so that she can tell her story. As for locking the child in the car, well, that outcome has turned out to be fine, certainly better than taking the child along with her.

 

[LovesPeace2]

I hope this lady is ok no new updates yet

 

[FlossyMay]

I feel like there's a possibility someone forced her down that trail and then away from the car. Either that or while she was trying to get the car unstuck, she started getting hypothermia symptoms. I know it's summer, but it was cool there and if she was wet and considering her age, I think it's possible. She could have even had a stroke, become confused and wandered away.

 

[Stunned]

I feel like there's a possibility someone forced her down that trail and then away from the car. Either that or while she was trying to get the car unstuck, she started getting hypothermia symptoms. I know it's summer, but it was cool there and if she was wet and considering her age, I think it's possible. She could have even had a stroke, become confused and wandered away.

I’m going with your first scenario, except where is she? And how awful to leave the baby.

 

[vls12345]

2-year-old found locked in car that was abandoned 2 days ago near Healy

A 2-year-old child was found locked in an abandoned car outside Healy on Thursday morning. Troopers are now looking for a woman the child was with.

www.alaskasnewssource.com

From the article...

"... Wilson was also referred to by troopers as the child’s grandmother, but authorities now say she is a close family friend, and was meant to be watching over the tot. ..."

I don't think I realized that she is/was not the grandmother.

 

[Stunned]

2-year-old found locked in car that was abandoned 2 days ago near Healy

A 2-year-old child was found locked in an abandoned car outside Healy on Thursday morning. Troopers are now looking for a woman the child was with.

www.alaskasnewssource.com

From the article...

"... Wilson was also referred to by troopers as the child’s grandmother, but authorities now say she is a close family friend, and was meant to be watching over the tot. ..."

I don't think I realized that she is/was not the grandmother.

I kinda thought that.

 

[Den56]

Who found the kid in the car?

 

[Stunned]

Who found the kid in the car?

Good question.

 

[NervousNellie]

Good question.

I agree - all the articles say the report of abandoned vehicle/child came in at 1:30 a.m. Who was out on Stampede Trail at 1:30 am? Why? Were they already looking for MDW? Or is that when it was discovered she was missing?