June 3, 2011 - recreating Fatality at Tustumena Lake
Ashley Udelhoven, 47, of Kenai, and one of his daughter's friends, 16-year-old Katarina Anderson of Kenai, died when the weather turned and the 18-foot aluminum skiff they were in swamped and sank. Miranda, 15, and Hanna 13, Udelhoven of Soldotna, and friend Athena Robinson, 12, of Sterling survived by swimming an estimated two miles to shore, then walking for hours to another public cabin where they awaited help. All five were wearing lifejackets at the time of the incident.
Miranda is credited with the survival of the other two girls by rallying them and motivating them to keep going, while she kept calm and levelheaded.
Katarina apparently was having trouble with her lifejacket slipping so Ashley tried pulling her with a rescue swimmer's stroke. The girls noted he began talking nonsense and eventually stopped talking. That's when Miranda and the other girls left before succumbing to hypothermia too.