Musher found safe: "Cold, tired and hungry"

After almost two weeks of searching and worrying, Melanie Gould was found "cold, tired and hungry" but safe in Cantwell, many miles away from her home in Talkeetna. The Iditarod Musher was sent to the Mat-Su Regional Hospital to be treated. Troopers, friends and searchers were guarded in their reporting of just what happened. Troopers stated that Gould herself contacted them, and admitted that she had seen the searchers earlier in the week but "stayed away" from them. Friends running - the now deleted - group "Have you seen Melanie Gould?" reported that a searcher found the missing musher in Cantwell and contacted troopers.

The State Troopers are not releasing any details at this point other than to report the musher found and doing well. That there is, at least for now, a happy ending to the story seems to be what matters at this point, but questions still loom. What happened and why did she shy away from the searchers? What is the real story? And why did the facebook page suddenly disappear once people began to question the fact that Melanie has admitted to hiding? Why did she leave her dogs unattended if she herself had planned to leave?

And, of course, what happens now?