Bob CollinsA few news organizations fell over themselves trying to be the first to tell you about the two hikers, missing in Alaska. In the process, they got it wrong and reported that they’d been found. They hadn’t. They’d called home.
Small details, big difference. Erica Nelson and Abby Flantz have still, at last check, not been found by searchers.
The hikers were reportedly found a little after 8 Wednesday evening.
Abby Flantz, of Gaylord, Minn. and her friend Erica Nelson of Las Vegas had been missing since Thursday, when they left for a hike in the park. They didn’t return to work at a nearby hotel on Sunday and a massive search effort got underway.
They called home by cellphone but it took another several hours or so before they were rescued, after a second phone call.
It’s lucky they were in Alaska. Sunrise today was Thursday is at 3:15 a.m. Sunset this evening was two minutes after midnight.
Good coverage is being provided by the Anchorage Daily News.
It’s a bit outdated now, but here’s All Things Considered host Tom Crann’s (unedited) interview a few hours ago with Kris Fister of the National Park Serivde (Listen in RealAudio.)
