The search for a 45-year-old Alaska mom who disappeared while swimming in a frozen river in a desperate bid to save her drowning dog has been suspended today.
Amanda Richmond Rogers, 45, was hiking north of Anchorage with her dog Groot and her husband Brian Rogers on December 23 – their 18th wedding anniversary.
Groot fell through a small hole in the ice of the frozen Eagle River after stopping to take a drink, and first Brian, and then Amanda followed it into the water.
After four days of search, the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team and Wildlife Troopers announced they were ending the search for Amanda.
Officials said there are no further areas of interest that are accessible to search at this time and will now only review new evidence.
The search for mom-of-four Amanda Richmond Rogers and her Irish Wolfhound Groot who disappeared just two days before Christmas on the North Fork Eagle River Trailhead north of Anchorage has been suspended today
Rescue efforts included helicopters, drones, divers, K-9 teams, sonar, and remote-operated vehicles
Rescue efforts included helicopters, drones, divers, K-9 teams, sonar, and remote-operated vehicles.
Amanda is now registered as a missing person with the Anchorage Police Department. The dog has not been found.
In a statement, officials confirmed: ‘The Alaska Wildlife Troopers, in coordination with the Alaska Dive Search, Rescue, and Recovery Team, Anchorage Police Department, and Solstice Search Dogs, have ended the active search for 45-year-old Eagle River resident Amanda Richmond.
‘During four days of searching from the air with drones (sUAS) and helicopters and within the water using divers, K9 teams, sonar, and remotely operated vehicles (ROV), search teams have determined that there are no further areas of interest that are accessible to search at this time.
‘If new information or evidence is received by law enforcement, that evidence will be reviewed and a determination on additional search efforts will be made at that time. The Anchorage Police Department has entered Richmond as a missing person, and her next of kin have been notified.
Officials said there are no further areas of interest that are accessible to search at this time and will now only review new evidence
The dog too remains missing despite both its owners risking their lives to save it
Relatives were heading to the family’s home nearby for the first Christmas since the death of her father earlier this year.
The couple had dropped in on friends along the route of the North Fork Eagle River Trailhead and were having an ‘amazing time’ in one of Amanda’s favorite places, Rogers said.
But their joy turned to horror when their beloved Irish Wolfhound toppled through the hole, and they dashed across the ice.
‘I thought I saw a flash of a big white paw underneath the ice,’ Brian, 49, said in a statement.
‘Before even thinking, I was jumping into the water to save our dog. I held onto the edge of the ice as I frantically ducked under the ice reaching into darkness trying to feel and grab our dog.
‘I felt nothing. I ran out of breath and jumped out of the opening.
‘I took four steps downstream to look for the dog through the ice again. I turned around and Amanda was getting into the water.
‘I knew from the look on her face she was going in to save our dog.
‘She is an emergency room nurse, trained to help and save people. I yelled but doubt she even heard me as she was completely concentrating on saving the dog.
‘Before I could get back to the opening to try and grab her I could see her swimming downstream under the ice and then out of sight.
‘She did not jump in to save ‘just a dog’; it was a family member. To me and our four boys she died a hero.’
Amanda Richmond Rogers with her family Liam Rogers, 16, Leif Thurmond, 25, August Rogers, 15, Brian Rogers, 49, and Bodhi Rogers, 10
Brian said he was overwhelmed by the ‘incredible’ support his family has received from their community and that they are ‘blessed to live in such a special place’
The couple met when they were both working as medics in Texas but made their permanent home in Alaska when Brian was deployed there by the Air Force.
‘Amanda loved her dogs nearly as much as our kids, they were our family,’ he said.
‘We have a room in our house dedicated to the memory of all our previous dogs. We have tattoos of our dog’s paws.
‘Amanda has around 35 thousand photos and videos on her phone from our 18 years of marriage and a majority of them of our dogs.’
Brian said he was overwhelmed by the ‘incredible’ support his family has received from their community and that they are ‘blessed to live in such a special place’.
‘Amanda was an amazing mother and has raised four tremendous children,’ he added.
‘She worked as an emergency room nurse, a death scene investigator and a pediatric hospice nurse but the job she excelled at was mom.
Amanda is survived by her sons Liam Rogers, 16, Leif Thurmond, 25, August Rogers, 15 and Bodhi Rogers, 10.