Wrangell’s 4th landslide victim found

WRANGELL, Alaska (KTUU) - A fourth victim of last week’s deadly Wrangell landslide was found on Saturday, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

The body of 11-year-old Kara Heller was recovered from the landslide debris at 6:35 p.m. Saturday, according to AST. She’s likely the youngest victim of this deadly act of nature that also killed her older sister, Mara, 16; father, Timothy, 44; and mother, Beth, 36. Still missing as of Sunday night is the middle Heller child, 12-year-old Derek, and 65-year-old Otto Florschutz.

Florschutz’s wife was found alive on Tuesday.

In an updated release on Sunday morning, authorities said a scent-detection K9 honed in on an area of debris for searchers to focus on. The remains of Kara Heller were later recovered with the help of an excavator.

The Nov. 20 landslide took out several homes, including two that were occupied when the natural disaster struck on a Monday night, setting off an intensive search and rescue operation among multiple agencies.

Tim Despain, a spokesperson for Alaska State Troopers and the Department of Public Safety, says at this point, recovery efforts have switched to a reactive search.

“As any new information becomes available, searchers, K9 teams specifically can respond ... and can then proceed with searching, but until any new information becomes available, there are no ground searchers actively searching,” Despain said.

Department of Transportation and Public Facilities crews have been able to clear one lane of the impacted roadway, according to DOTPF spokesperson Shannon McCarthy.

McCarthy says part of the Zimovia Highway will not be opening to the public until they can confirm it is safe on the upper part of the landslide. She says the first people allowed through will be the power company on Monday morning, who will be helping to restore power to the southern side of the highway.

McCarthy says the crews have been working hard to open the road.

“The material that we moved was about 35 cubic yards of material off the road. We did have some damage on the northern section [of the road], but it was limited to that northern section,” McCarthy said. “For the most part, the asphalt is intact so we’ll be ... seeing what we can do to repair that section.”

A scent detection K9 team remains on standby and will resume searching in case new information or evidence arises in a specific area.

For additional updates on road-clearing efforts in that area, check the DOTPF Facebook page.

Individual assistance for Wrangell residents dealing with damages or emergency expenses related to the slide will be made available beginning Tuesday.

To learn more or request assistance, call 844-445-7131 or go to ready.alaska.gov.