![]() He badly misjudged the environment and his abilities the bore tide swept him into the Inlet (Anchorage Times, July 16, 1981). In 1978, an Air Force sergeant tried to walk across Turnagain Arm at low tide. Her attempted rescuers waited for the tide to recede to allow them to recover her body hours later. The 18-year-old Adeana tried to push their ATV out of the mud, became stuck herself, and eventually drowned in the rising tide. As reported in the Anchorage Daily News, July 16, 1988, newlyweds Adeana and Jay Dickison went gold dredging around Turnagain Arm’s eastern end, near Portage. In recent decades, actual deaths have been few, though they serve as gruesome warnings. The pressurized water broke down the sucking action of the Cook Inlet silt and the boy was freed in seconds. Most who sink in the glacial silt are successfully rescued, but the survival rate says more about the skill and zeal of the rescuers.Īnchorage firefighters inject water under the feet of a young boy trapped in heavy mud at Ship Creek Sunday, Auf.5, 2001. Some Alaskans have survived walks across Turnagain Arm, or from Anchorage to Fire Island and back. While the mud flats are extremely dangerous to traverse, stepping onto the mud is not an automatic death sentence. The grains are so angular that they’re just locked together.” Then, when it resettles after you’ve disturbed it, it tends to be more compacted around your foot. When you step on it, you cause it to become more mobile. When they’re deposited, they’re in contact with each other in a delicate balance. ![]() A geologist explained the science of the mud to the Anchorage Daily News in 1988: “The grains are highly angular. Though similar to quicksand, the local mud flats are unique. People have indeed died on the mud flats, but the reality is far more horrifying and haunting. The longer you live in Anchorage, the more versions you will hear. Sometimes the victim is a duck hunter who pleaded to be shot, preferring a quick death over drowning. Sometimes the victim is a member of a wedding photoshoot, an attempt for that perfect Alaska background turned tragic. Sometimes the victim is a tourist who strayed a little too far from the trails. From there, victims either drown in the rising tide or are ripped in half by a rope attached to a helicopter. All the stories begin with an unlucky soul wandering too close to the water and becoming trapped in the quicksand-like mud. The deadly mud flats that line Cook Inlet, Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm are the setting for some of the most enduring and gruesome Anchorage urban legends. Have a question about Anchorage history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story. Part of a continuing weekly series on local history by local historian David Reamer. ![]() ![]() "I can't really speculate on how she got there, or why she was there but, when we were briefly in there, it was clear to see how someone could be stuck there," tells Officer McLaughlin.The mud flats of Turnagain Arm with the Kenai Mountains along the Seward Highway on Thursday, June 9, 2011. There was a little tree where I could grab it to get myself back up, but it took me 20 seconds to get my feet out of the mud," explains Easton Police Officer Jason Wheeler. When other equipment didn't work, they formed a line to pull her out. The officers tried to get her, but quickly began sinking in the muck. She was found lying in the fetal position in a swamp 50 feet off of a trail. Three Easton police officers showed up, but they had no idea she had been missing until after the rescue. Eventually hikers heard Emma's cries for help and called 911. Officers from Stoughton Police combed the region for days. "At the time we showed up, we couldn't see her, but we could hear her," tells Easton Police Officer Corey McLaughlin, "When we saw her lying there, we did initially try to pick her up, but the weight of her on top of our body weight sunk us further."Įmma Tetewsky went missing on June 26, and didn't have her cellphone with her. The officers who rescued her are now telling their story. She told Easton Police officers she was stuck in swamp mud for three days at Borderland State Park. Police discuss difficult rescue of Stoughton woman trapped in mud 02:19ĮASTON - A Stoughton woman is safe after she went missing for more than a week. ![]()
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