Mom swam after dog swept under ice in Alaska river — and ‘died a hero’ on anniversary

A search continues after an Alaska woman vanished beneath the ice on a river trying to save one of her dogs, state troopers reported.

Searchers had to abandon their efforts Tuesday, Dec. 26, because of frozen equipment but intended to return the next day, KTUU reported.

Amanda Richmond Rogers, 45, of Eagle River went missing Saturday, Dec. 23, while on a walk along the north fork of the Eagle River, Alaska State Troopers said in a dispatch.

Her husband, Brian Rogers, told the Anchorage Daily News in a statement that the couple went for a walk with two of their four dogs on their 18th wedding anniversary.

When they stopped to rest, one of the dogs fell into the river while trying to drink from a hole in the ice, he told KTUU in a statement. Brian Rogers jumped in to try to rescue the dog as it was swept under the ice, then saw his wife enter the river as he got out.

“I could see her swimming downstream under the ice and then out of sight,” Brian Rogers said, according to the Anchorage Daily News. “I waited and waited and am still waiting.” He said he and his wife, a mother of four and emergency room nurse, “went in without thought” as their “instincts took over,” according to the publication.

“Amanda loved her dogs nearly as much as our kids, they were our family,” Brian Rogers said in the statement to KTUU. “She did not jump in to save ‘just a dog,’ it was a family member. To me and our 4 boys she died a hero.”

The Irish wolfhound swept under the ice also remains missing, the family told the Anchorage Daily News.

The north fork of the Eagle River is about 20 miles east of Anchorage.

This story was originally published December 27, 2023 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Mom swam after dog swept under ice in Alaska river — and ‘died a hero’ on anniversary."