The Alaska Department of Public Safety has released the names of those killed in a Monday night landslide near Wrangell.
The body of 16-year-old Mara Heller was recovered that night. Her parents, 44-year-old Timothy Heller and 36-year-old Beth Heller, were recovered Tuesday.
Three Wrangell residents remain missing, including two more Heller siblings:12-year-old Derek Heller, and 11-year-old Kara Heller. 65-year-old Otto Florschutz is also missing. Florschutz’s wife Christina Florschutz survived the slide and is recovering in the local hospital.
Next of kin has been notified. The bodies of the deceased were sent to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for an autopsy.
Workers with the state Department of Transportation started to clear the landslide debris 11 miles south of town on Thursday.
The slide, which is about 450 feet wide, came down across Zimovia Highway before it reached the water. It left approximately 75 homes south of town without power. Many also lack phone service and the internet.
DOT Spokesperson Shannon McCarthy says crews are removing debris from both sides of the slide. She says it’s a matter of days – not weeks – before they get a single lane of access across. And if they find evidence that anyone missing is in a specific area, an active search may be restarted.
