5 family members and a commercial fisherman neighbor are ID’d as dead or missing in Alaska landslide
WRANGELL, Alaska (AP) — Authorities on Friday identified those missing or killed in an Alaska landslide this week as five family members and their neighbor, a commercial fisherman who made a longshot bid for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House last year.
Timothy Heller, 44, and Beth Heller, 36 — plus their children Mara, 16; Derek, 12; and Kara, 11 — were at home Monday night when the landslide struck. Search crews found the bodies of the parents and the oldest child late Monday or early Tuesday; the younger children remain missing, as does neighbor Otto Florschutz, 65, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in an emailed statement.
Florschutz’s wife survived the landslide.
Florschutz, a Republican who previously served on Wrangell’s Port Commission, entered the race to fill the congressional seat vacated when longtime U.S. Rep. Don Young died last year. He received 193 votes out of nearly 162,000 cast.