Pilots following her AirTag found LouLou the dog alive two days after an avalanche in Alaska
An avalanche on Shaker Peak, north of Anchorage, badly injured two hikers and left the dog with them, LouLou, alone on the mountain. After two nights in the snow, pilots following her AirTag found her alive.
31 October 2026
Photo: via Alaska Public Media
An avalanche on Shaker Peak, north of Anchorage, swept two mountaineers about 500 feet down a ridge on 10 October. An Alaska National Guard helicopter crew got them out less than two hours later.
Both were badly hurt. Brian Shum broke his jaw and later needed surgery on a hand, and Rachad Rayees broke three ribs and damaged a vertebra, said Lauren Padawer, Shum’s girlfriend, Alaska Public Media reported.
Their dog, LouLou, a four-year-old huskydoodle who belongs to Padawer, was left behind. “They knew that they needed help and that it wasn’t time to focus on the dog,” Padawer said.
Padawer was out of the country at the time. LouLou had an Apple AirTag on her collar, so Padawer could see roughly where she was, and more than 20 people joined the search, People reported.
About 50 hours after the avalanche, pilots Dave Beckett and Amanda Barker followed the signal and spotted her. They walked her back to the helicopter, put a black puffy coat on her and flew her to Beckett’s home in Wasilla.
She had a chipped tooth and a broken toenail.
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