Transcript of Search continues for Alaska woman who disappeared under river ice

There's certainly a tragic event for this family. Our thoughts are with them, especially with the closeness to the Christmas holiday.

The woman disappeared Saturday with initial reports coming in late Saturday morning, prompting the Alaska State troopers to activate a search.

And rescue. Our focus right now is on finding this missing woman, so that way her family has some closure.

On Sunday, a dive team worked to cut ice, where they used a variety of possible methods, including deploying divers, sonar, and underwater vehicles to try and locate the missing woman.

During today's active search window, we were searching a number of areas of interest that the dive team identified yesterday when they were out there surveying the site. We had a Department of Public Safety helicopter doing aerial surveillance yesterday within the area. The dive team is confident that they are searching in the right areas.

Ast says the man and woman involved in the incident were walking along the trail with their dogs when one of the animals went into Eagle Rivers's open water. The couple then went into the water to search for the dog, but the woman did not resurface. Representative Jamie Aller, the legislature representing the area and Eagle River where the woman disappeared, wrote of the impact to the close-knit community. She says in part, quote, This incident is a heartbreaking tragedy and it deeply saddenes all of us. The loss experienced by the family is beyond words, and they have my most heartfelt sympathies in this difficult time. This event is a grave reminder of how quickly situations can turn perilous in natural settings, especially near our river. Ilerd says she encourages the Chewkac, Eagle River community to come together to support the family of the missing woman and thank those involved in the search and rescue operations. Mcdaniel is urging people to be cautious of thin ice.

If you're going to be on any frozen lakes, rivers, other types of waterways, make sure you know the depth of the ice. With this interesting winter that we've had here in south central Alaska, there could be a substantial amount of snow on top of very thin ice.

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