Rising Sun native rescues dog after avalanche in Alaska

(ANCHORAGE, AK.) – A Rising Sun native went on a daring mission to rescue a dog after an avalanche in the Alaska wilderness. 

Dave Beckett is a 1979 Rising Sun graduate who served as a Navy fighter pilot. He flew 747’s out of Anchorage for UPS for many years and has retired in Alaska. 

He’s always had a love for flying and now has a couple helicopters. 

Dave’s skill set was put to good use last week and resulted in the rescue of a puppy in harsh terrain. 

Here's what happened

Two experienced mountaineers were hiking with a 4-year-old poodle-husky mix near Ekultna Lake last weekend.  

An avalanche occurred and the two hikers were swept approximately 500 feet down a mountain. 

The two hikers were seriously hurt but managed to call for help and were rescued. 

However, the 4-year-old husky named LouLou was still unaccounted for. 

One of the hikers' girlfriends was on a thousands of miles away on an overseas trip and learned about the avalanche and the missing dog.  

“I did the only thing I could think to do: start asking for help. I posted in every relevant Alaska backcountry, hiking, mountaineering, and lost-pet group I could find,” said Lauren Joy Padawer.

Padawer was more than 5,000 miles away as she put out social media call-outs for search volunteers. 

The dog was wearing an AirTag and Padawar was attempting to locate it through Apple, satellite imagery and various other technologies and relay information to volunteers on the ground.

However, that was no easy task. 

“My initial estimated location was off by nearly half a mile. On an ordinary map, that might not seem enormous. In the rugged Chugach Mountains, half a mile can mean an entirely different ridge, drainage, or mountainside especially with rapidly shifting and intermittently stormy weather,” she said. 

On the first night, volunteers searched on the ground, including some who climbed 4,000 feet of elevation, however there was no sign of LouLou as the search was halted due to weather.

This is when Dave Beckett comes into the story. 

He and Amanda Barker volunteered to fly their helicopter in an effort to find the missing dog. 

“They initially worked with coordinates I’d provided, which I later discovered were inaccurate,” Padawar said. 

Initially, his helicopter could get close enough to detect an AirTag but the terrain presented many challenges to find the exact location. 

The search had reached 50 hours when Dave and Amanda received another ping. 

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They found a place to land but it was still a 20-minute hike to the specific location. 

Dave hiked to the location and that is when he discovered a little white dog, nearly invisible against the snow-covered mountainside, staring at him and looking mostly uninjured.

“And while the freezing temperatures at approximately 4,500 feet had been a major concern, LouLou was perhaps better equipped for the conditions than most dogs [as] she’s been known to voluntarily sleep outside on cold Alaska winter nights. ,” Padawar said. 

He took photos and videos of LouLou and sent them to Padawar.

“While I was more than 5,000 miles away, staring at maps, fielding messages, and desperately trying to make sense of intermittent AirTag detections, they were standing beside LouLou,” she said. 

Dave and Amanda safely rescued LouLou and the dog only has a broken toe and tooth.

Otherwise, the dog is back to normal and enjoying the couch at Padawar's home. 

Padawar described the Rising Sun native and his helicopter partner as the true heroes of the rescue. 

“Their generosity, skill, and determination turned a desperate search into an extraordinary homecoming,” Padawar said.