Lack of new clues halts search for missing Talkeetna musher GOULD: Intense hunt fails to turn up any new clues as to where she is.

Alaska State Troopers said Thursday they have called off a search for missing Talkeetna musher Melanie Gould, who was last seen nine days ago. Troopers will continue to investigate the disappearance, a spokeswoman said.
Searchers had been scouring an area off the Denali Highway near Gould's abandoned truck, which was spotted on Saturday. Troopers found no additional clues in the following days, agency spokeswoman Megan Peters said in a written statement.
Friends started looking for Gould, 34, on Friday after she failed to show up at work two days in a row. She left her dogs behind and apparently didn't tell anyone where she was going, friends said.
Gould's many friends, including some who were caring for her dogs, gathered late Thursday to plan another search effort of their own.
Troopers said Gould's last confirmed location was near Talkeetna, where she used her credit card to put gas in her truck. Friends said they had reason to believe she stopped at the Tangle River Inn, about 114 miles east of Cantwell on the Denali Highway.
A wildlife trooper flying a helicopter Saturday located her light blue truck about 18 miles from Cantwell. The truck was about a quarter-mile off the highway on an old mining trail. It was undamaged, troopers said.
Between 25 and 30 ground searchers combed the area around Gould's truck each day from Sunday through Wednesday, Peters said. Twenty trained dogs were used, as well as several state and private aircraft, which logged a total of 100 flight hours, Peters said.
Searchers on four ATVs each drove as many as 100 miles on nearby trails, Peters said.
"Despite the immense search, no signs of Ms. Gould were discovered after her vehicle was recovered," Peters said "Until evidence or credible information regarding Ms. Gould's whereabouts becomes available to determine a more defined search area, an active search cannot proceed as the risk to (search and rescue) personnel is unjustifiable."
Amanda Randles, who had been helping gather information for a Facebook page dedicated to finding the missing musher, said many of Gould's friends were confused about why troopers had stopped searching for her.
"What I'm getting is bafflement, and then 'OK, now what can I do?' " Randles said.
"(They're) not understanding what the troopers' criteria for the decision-making was, but I'm not getting anger, dismay, anything really solid like that," she said. "Everyone's like, 'OK, now it's our turn.' "
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.