By Renee Straker
less than an hour ago
Pamela Helmstadter from Alexander, Maine, is carried from the woods about a mile from her home after being rescued.
(Courtesy Maine Warden Service)
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A walk in the woods with their dogs turned into a deadly tragedy for a family in Alexander, Maine.
Pamela Helmstadter, 72, was found alive and severely hypothermic after spending four days lost in the forest. Her 82-year-old husband John Helmstadter was found dead about 200 yards away, the Maine Warden Service said in a press release. They went for a walk in the woods behind their home on Oct. 13.
Pamela Helmstadter, 72, survived four days lost in the woods near her home in Alexander, Maine.
(Maine Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife)
Searchers found Pamela with one of her dogs by her side on Oct. 17. Rescuers say her body temperature was 90.7 degrees and wardens believe the dog helped save her by laying on her to keep her warm in the rain and cold.
Low temperatures in the region over those four days were in the 30s and highs only reached the 50s.
John Helmstadter, 82, died after he and his wife got lost in the woods near their home in Alexander, Maine.
(Maine Department Of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife)
According to the Warden Service, the couple got lost after wandering off a trail, and then John fell and could not get back up. Neither had cellphones with them and Pamela got disoriented and lost when she tried to get help.
A neighbor contacted the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 16 after one of the couple’s dogs returned to their home but there was no sign of the Helmstadters or their other dog.
Pamela Helmstadter being transported to an ambulance after surviving four days lost in the woods in Alexander, Maine.
(Courtesy Maine Warden Service)
Game wardens and K-9s located the couple over a mile from their home. Helmstadter told them she had given up hope of being found, but then she heard a search plane circling over her five different times and that gave her hope that she would be rescued.
Helmstadter was taken to Calais Community Hospital for observation. She later told WMUR-TV that she was feeling a lot of sadness and grief about the loss of her husband, saying, “He was loving. We were married for 31 years and we had a good life together.”
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