The Associated Press reported that authorities found 11-year-old Kara Heller’s body Saturday night in southeast Alaska after a major landslide killed three and left two missing.
The Alaska Department of Public Safety obtained this snapshot of a landslide that occurred the previous evening near Wrangell, Alaska on November 21, 2023. Authorities claimed at least three people were killed and others were missing when a massive landslide ripped through three homes on a mountain top. (Source: USA Today)
Missing People Are Still in Search of the Alaska Landslide
Last Monday’s landslide killed four people, including Heller. Mara Heller, 16, and her parents, Timothy and Beth Heller, 44, and 36, were also present. A drone operator uncovered Timothy and Beth’s bodies late Tuesday after rescuers found Mara’s. The Alaska Department of Public Safety told the Associated Press that Derek, 12, and neighbor Otto Florschutz, 65, are the Heller family’s third child currently missing. Last Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers reported that three residences were in the direct path of the tragedy at 8:50 p.m. local time Monday near Wrangell, a fishing town of 2,000 some 155 miles southeast of Juneau.
Troopers said first responders were looking for survivors. If you know someone missing, call local police, authorities advised. Since the landslide blocked power and access to 75 homes, boats have started transporting inhabitants to an unaffected portion of town, according to the state emergency management office. Social media photos revealed barren soil from the mountaintop to the Pacific Ocean and ruined homes. Landslides occurred near Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island. Alaskan TV station KTUU reported many landslides that damaged homes, cut power, and closed major routes.
