Author of the article: This undated photo shows Mary Dawn Wilson. Photo by Alaska State Troopers/AP
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ANCHORAGE — Officials have ended their search for a woman whose two-year-old grandson was found alone last week in a locked car stuck in the mud on a rural Alaska road, authorities said.
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No information has emerged on the whereabouts of Mary Dawn Wilson, 69, since her Ford Focus was found last Thursday with the child and personal items believed to be Wilson’s, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement . Authorities believe the child was alone in the car for two days. The investigation was changed from “active” to “reactive,” meaning the investigation could be reopened if officials receive new information or evidence, the statement said. The statement added that “at this time, there are no indications of foul play related to Wilson’s disappearance.” Wilson’s car was found Thursday on Stampede Road, off Parks Highway just outside the small community of Healy. Officials believe her vehicle got stuck on Tuesday and that she began to veer off the freeway instead of onto it.
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The toddler was initially turned over to the state Office of Children’s Services and appeared to be in good health, officials said. The child was later reunited with his mother, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Wilson watched the child while the mother worked in rural Alaska. Stampede Road is famous as the main thoroughfare used by adventurers to follow in the footsteps of Christopher McCandless, a young idealist whose journey on the Stampede Trail ended in his death. We apologize, but this video failed to load. The trailhead eventually ends in the treacherous Alaskan descent, where McCandless took refuge in an abandoned city bus after becoming trapped in the swollen Teklanika River. He starved to death in 1992 and his life and death were made famous by the book ‘Into the Wild’ by Jon Krakauer and then the movie directed by Sean Penn. Over the years, people trying to get to the bus about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Healy to make the pilgrimage to McCandless had to be rescued or die. That prompted state officials to remove the bus from the backcountry in 2020.
