State releases names of landslide dead and missing

State officials have released the names of the four people killed and two others still missing from the Nov. 20 landslide that hit just past 11-Mile Zimovia Highway.

As of Monday, Nov. 27, searchers had found the bodies of Timothy Heller, 44, his wife, Beth Heller, 36, and their daughters, Mara, 16, and Kara, 11.

Mara was a high school junior and Kara was in fifth grade.

Searchers found Mara's body the night of the slide, during the initial search operations by first responders able to reach the site. Crews found Timothy and Beth Heller the next day.

They found Kara on Saturday evening, Nov. 25, after a scent-detection dog indicated on an area in the landslide debris.

Searchers had not yet found Derek Heller, 12, or Otto Florschutz, 65, as of Monday afternoon, Nov. 27.

Derek was in sixth grade.

Christina Florschutz was rescued from the upper level of their home the morning after the slide and brought to the hospital for medical treatment, where she was reported in good condition later that day.

Responders used drones, helicopters and planes, teams with scent-detection dogs and searchers aboard boats to search the slide area last week.

Though state agencies and others have ended the active search for survivors, "it remains a priority of the state of Alaska and Alaska State Troopers to locate the missing Alaskans so that we can bring closure to their families and the community," Department of Public Safety officials said in a statement.

The bodies of the four people recovered from the slide area were sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Anchorage for autopsy.

The 450-foot-wide slide hit three homes, including the Florschutz home (upland) and Heller residence (water side of the highway). A third home (upland) was unoccupied at the time.

The Hellers owned and operated Heller High Water, a contracting business, working on docks, barge landings and other marine facilities.

The company has been active throughout Southeast, including making repairs to the city-owned barge landing ramp in Wrangell in 2021 and pulling out rusted steel pilings in 2022 at the site of the former 6-Mile sawmill.

Beth Heller served on the school board 2019-2020 after several years on the school district's parent advisory committee.

It was her first time in elected office. In an interview with the Sentinel in 2019, she said she decided to run because she believed in volunteering in the community, and because she had three children in school. Her biggest concern, she said, was the harm of state funding cuts to the schools.

Beth and Timothy both grew up in Wrangell and married in August 2010, said Tyla Nelson, who described herself as Beth Heller's best friend since high school.

Nelson described her friend as a "fantastic human," adding, "she was a wonderful mother (and) did everything for those babies."

This past spring, Derek Heller played the Tin Man in the elementary school production of "The Wizard of Oz."

Kara took first place in this year's Fourth of July Crazy Crafts race, teaming up with Violet Allen for the winning entry in the 17-year-old-and-under category.

Otto Florschutz was among the 48 candidates who ran in the special election primary in June 2022 to fill the seat of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young. He said in a pre-election interview that he was running not expecting to win but to ensure that voters would have the option of a solidly pro-life candidate.

He received 193 votes out of nearly 162,000 cast, doing better than 24 other candidates in the crowded field.

Florschutz said he was known for his ability to forge consensus.

"As a 42-year commercial fisherman I have worn many hats," he said. "Besides catching fish, I have served in community elected positions, done boat repair, mechanics, welding, carpentry, business and much more."

He had returned to town from a fishing trip the day before the slide.

Florschutz had been elected three times to the Wrangell Port Commission and had also served on the local Fish and Game Advisory Committee.

The Anchorage Daily News contributed reporting for this story.