Woman Missing After Going Under Frozen Alaskan River to Save Dog: 'A Tragic Event'

"Our focus is finding the missing woman so the family can have some closure," said Austin McDaniel, communications director for Alaska State Troopers

The search to recover a woman who went missing after entering the water of a frozen lake in hopes of rescuing a dog resumed in Alaska on Tuesday.

On Saturday, an unidentified woman and man were walking their dogs near the North Fork Eagle River Trail, around 20 miles outside of downtown Anchorage, when one of their dogs entered the water, per the Anchorage Daily News.

According to the Alaska State Troopers, both the man and the woman went into the water after the dog. The woman never resurfaced, while the man sustained no injuries. The Anchorage Daily News also reported that the dog has not been recovered.

"The Anchorage Police Department and Anchorage Fire Department began a thorough search of the immediate area with no signs of the female," authorities said.

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The search continued on Sunday with the Alaska Wildlife Troopers and AK Dive Search Rescue & Recovery Team deploying "divers, sonar and remote operated vehicles" in hopes of finding the woman, according to NBC affiliate KTUU.

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"It is certainly a tragic event for the family, our thoughts are with them especially with the closeness to the Christmas holiday,” Austin McDaniel, the communications director for Alaska State Troopers, said, per the outlet. “But our focus is finding the missing woman so the family can have some closure.”

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McDaniel told the Anchorage Daily News that the area of open water where the woman initially entered the river was searched on Saturday. “It’s believed that she was swept underneath the ice downriver,” he added.

Since then, a portion of the river she initially entered has frozen over.

On Saturday, the Alaska Dive Search and Rescue team posted on Facebook, "We are deploying in the morning (24 Dec.) to perform the recovery mission in Eagle River. Today before it became dark we went out and assessed the site, do to the risk to the team (working in the dark on thin ice over moving water) we decided to start the recovery mission when we have adequate daylight."

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According to CBS News, in late December, Alaska only has about five and a half hours of daylight each day with the sun setting around 3:45 p.m. local time.

The search and rescue team posted a new update on Tuesday, writing, "We are continuing the search in Eagle River today, with the assistance of the Alaska Solstice Search Dogs. They are a team we train with and work with quite often."

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