The Search for Bethany

The disappearance of Bethany Correira

When Bethany Correira disappeared, the residents of her hometown of Talkeetna, Alaska immediately responded to search for one of their own.

Alaska is big. From the end of the Aleutian Island Chain to the southeastern panhandle, Alaska spans a distance as wide as the Continental United States, and Alaska is twice the size of Texas in area. Despite its geographical size, though, only 750,000 people live in the state. Half of the population resides in Anchorage, and a large percentage of the remainder live in Fairbanks and Juneau. The rest of us who call Alaska home mostly live in small towns across the state, many of which are isolated and surrounded by wilderness.

Talkeetna, Alaska, is considered the gateway to Mt. Denali (McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. In the summer, tourists, including mountain climbers, hikers, flight-seers, and those who just want to view the majestic mountain, flock to Talkeetna. In the winter, though, the tourists leave, and the 800 residents who remain settle down to quiet lives, watching magnificent displays of the northern lights, playing in the deep snow, raising their children, and gathering for social events to help them forget the cold, dark winter. Talkeetna is a small town where nearly everyone knows everyone else, and when Bethany Correira…