Maine Warden Service
A missing 72-year-old woman who was found lying near her dead husband’s body in a Maine woodland after they got lost on a hike miraculously survived for four nights after their loyal dog slept on her chest to keep her warm.
Pamela Helmstadter was rescued Thursday in the woods in Alexander in Washington County — days after she and her 82-year-old husband, John Helmstadter, got disorientated when they veered off the trail on a walk, WMTW reported.
She was found around 200 yards from her husband’s body — with their black lab, Lucy, still trying to keep her safe, officials said.
“When the K-9 team located her, her dog was being very protective of her and even laid down on top of her on her chest,” Maine Warden Service Sgt. Josh Beal said of Lucy.
“It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night, as well, to help keep her warm,” he continued, adding the pooch may have helped save his owner’s life.
Helmstadter, who endured nights in the rain and freezing temperatures as low as 28 degrees, was suffering from severe hypothermia by the time search crews found her, according to authorities.
Her husband’s body was found roughly 200 yards away from her, though it wasn’t immediately clear exactly when he died.
The tragic saga unfolded after Helmstadter’s husband fell and couldn’t back up at some point after the couple decided to go off trail.
Helmstadter, who had left her cellphone at home, opted to go and find help — but ended up lost and couldn’t find her way back home, authorities said.
“She was more physically capable than he was, and they made the decision for him to stay put and her to try and go out and find help,” Beal said.
Search crews had been scouring the woods for the couple ever since an alert neighbor noticed the couple hadn’t taken in a package left on their front porch.
The neighbor then called police when one of the couple’s two dogs returned home alone.
Helmstadter later told authorities she’d given up hope of being found alive until she suddenly heard search helicopters repeatedly flying overhead in the hours before she was discovered.
The wife, whose body temperature was just 90.7 degrees when she was located, was rushed to hospital for treatment, authorities said.