“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 DEPARTMENT OF INLAND FISHERIES & WILDLIFE
A photo provided by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife shows Pamela Helmstadter being taken to a waiting ambulance on Oct. 17, 2024
A Maine couple who had been missing for four days after they went out walking on a trail were located on Thursday, Oct. 17, with the wife alive and her husband dead, authorities said.
In a news release shared with PEOPLE on Monday, Oct. 21, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said that Pamela Helmstadter, 72, was hypothermic when she was found, with her dog by her side, in a forested area more than a mile from her home in Alexander, Maine.
The body of her husband John Helmstadter, 72, was discovered about 200 yards away from where Pamela was rescued, the department said.
Related: Abducted Girl, 4, Found Dead in Woods Alongside Injured Sister, 6, After Man Is Arrested over Death of Their Mom
In an interview with ABC News as she was recovering at a hospital, via ABC affiliate WMTW, Pamela said that on Oct. 13, she and John were walking with their dogs on a network of trails behind their house.
They had been on one trail where they walked numerous times for more than two decades, she said.
But authorities later explained that “during their walk they had gotten off one of the trails, and then John fell and was unable to get up. Neither of them had cell phones with them, and Pamela went to get help, but got disoriented in the woods and could not get home.”
“She said she had given up hope of being found, but today [Oct. 17] heard the Warden Service Airplane circling over her five different times and it gave her hope that she would be found,” Maine officials said in their statement.
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A neighbor had separately notified authorities that something was amiss on Wednesday, Oct. 16, after noticing a package she had brought inside the Helmstadters’ residence from their porch the day before was still in the same place where she left it, but the couple were nowhere to be seen, according to officials.
One of the couple’s dogs additionally had returned to the home — though the other did not.
Search and rescue crews began looking for the couple later that night.
MAINE DEPARTMENT OF INLAND FISHERIES & WILDLIFE
A photo provided by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife shows Pamela Helmstadter being taken to a waiting ambulance on Oct. 17, 2024
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Pamela told ABC News that she roamed the woods for days with no food and the temperatures dropping: “I started eating peat moss. I thought maybe that would keep me alive.”
WMTW reported that one of Pamela’s dogs. who was with her when she was found hypothermic, may have saved her life, according to officials.
Related: Abducted Girl, 4, Found Dead in Woods Alongside Injured Sister, 6, After Man Is Arrested over Death of Their Mom
“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, via the outlet. “It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night as well to help keep her warm.”
Pamela, whose body temperature was 90.7 degrees when she was rescued, was taken to Calais Community Hospital for observation, authorities said in their statement.
Her husband, John, was found about 30 minutes after authorities discovered Pamela, WMTW reported.
“It’s a lot of sadness and grief,” said Pamela, according to ABC affiliate WMUR. “He was loving. We were married for 31 years and we had a good life together.”
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