Husband dies after Maine couple is lost in woods for days, wife may have survived thanks to dog

A Maine man died and his wife was rescued days after they went for a walk in the woods in Maine and got lost — and officials say she may have been saved by her dog keeping her warm in the freezing temperatures. 

John Helmstadter, 82, and Pamela Helmstadter, 72, went for a walk in a forested area behind their Alexander, Maine, home last Sunday with their dogs. 

But what was meant to be a casual stroll along a network of trails turned tragic when they got off one of the trails and John Helmstadter fell, then was unable to get up. Neither of them had cellphones and were unable to call for assistance.

Pamela Helmstadter went to get help, but “got disoriented in the woods and could not get home,” the Maine Game Wardens said in a news release.

After spending four nights in the woods, she was located on Thursday — alive, but hypothermic — by the Maine Game Wardens and warden K9s, over a mile from her home. Her husband was found deceased, 200 yards from her, officials said.

“Pamela was found severely hypothermic but alert with her dog by her side,” the Maine Game Wardens said. “Her body temperature was 90.7 when she was found, but she was able to discuss what had occurred.” She was transported to a hospital for observation. 

In the days the couple were lost in the woods, the temperature dipped to as low as 26 degrees Fahrenheit at night, according to Accuweather. 

Mark Latti, the Communications Director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, said the couple's dog may have helped save her life as wardens found the dog very protective of her and saw it would lay on top of her chest.

“It sounds like that’s what the dog would do at night, as well, to help keep her warm,” Sgt. Josh Beal with the Maine Warden Service told Portland station WMTW.

She told authorities she had given up hope of being found until she heard the Warden Service Airplane circling over her five different times on Thursday.

A search for the couple had been launched Wednesday after their neighbor who checks on them alerted authorities that they were missing.

That neighbor reported bringing a package from their porch into their house on Tuesday, and she became concerned after noticing it was in the same place she had left it the following day and after noticing one of the couple's dogs had returned home, but there was no sign of the couple nor their other dog.

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