Helicopter aids in locating missing woman

COEUR d’ALENE — When 70-year-old Pam Wigle and her dog, Hedy, started their hike on a familiar trail near Fourth of July Pass on Tuesday afternoon, she never could have predicted the drama that would ensue.  

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Wigle’s panicked husband, Mike, around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday night, his concern growing by the minute as his wife and dog had failed to return from their hike.  

Sheriff Bob Norris, several deputies and a donor-funded ABLE1 air support helicopter immediately responded to the call. The situation was deemed “higher risk” due to Wigle’s recent medical ailments.  

“As soon as we received notification that she had not returned, we put the helicopter up in the air,” Norris said.  

Meanwhile, Wigle and Hedy — thankfully — were making their way back down the trail, safe and sound.  

“I really wasn’t lost,” Wigle told The Press. “I just went farther than I normally do.” 

Still, she knew something was amiss when she first noticed the helicopter circling overhead. “We see this helicopter, and I say, ‘You know, Hedy, I don’t think people rescued on the highway need a helicopter,’” Wigle recalled.  

As the ABLE1 helicopter conducted an aerial search with an infrared camera and a spotlight, several deputies conducted a ground search on the trails near Wigle’s parked car, according to the sheriff’s office.  

The infrared camera was able to pick up the image of a human figure and a dog walking on a nearby trail. Deputies made contact with Wigle at about 11:45 p.m. and confirmed that she and her dog were OK.  

Wigle was unaware of how late it was when she and Hedy were found and told deputies she had become disoriented on the trail due to a medical condition.  

Having been an avid hiker and backpacker her whole life, this was the first time Wigle had ever been in such a situation. “I wasn’t afraid — I had Hedy, and I knew where I was,” Wigle said.  

Using the flashlight on her phone, she figured out where she was through recognizing shadows of familiar rock formations and began heading in the right direction back to her car.  

“It was pretty darn dark the whole time,” Wigle said.  

Norris said that a swift response is essential in cases where a person goes missing on trails or in the backcountry because of the unique risks the situation carries. The missing person may not have enough water, become injured or have an encounter with a wild animal.  

In Wigle and Hedy’s case, the story had a happy ending. “We are very fortunate, very happy that it turned out the way it did,” Norris said.