Authorities in Alaska are looking for a 69-year-old woman whose car was abandoned on a trail this week.

Alaska State Troopers found her 2-year-old grandchild inside the vehicle. They said it appeared the child had been stuck inside for two days.

The child was checked out and appeared to be in good health, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said.

The search for Mary Dawn Wilson is centered around Healy, which is near where the vehicle was found.

Authorities have not speculated about why Wilson would have left the child in the car.

People with information about Wilson's disappearance can submit tips online at www.dps.alaska.gov/tips.

Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican adversary in Congress, was defeated in a GOP primary Tuesday, falling to a rival backed by the former president in a contest that reinforced his grip on the party’s base.

The third-term congresswoman and her allies entered the day downbeat about her prospects, aware that Trump’s backing gave Harriet Hageman considerable lift in the state where he won by the largest margin during the 2020 campaign. Cheney was already looking ahead to a political future beyond Capitol Hill that could include a 2024 presidential run, potentially putting her on another collision course with Trump.

Cheney described her loss as the beginning of a new chapter in her political career as she addressed a small collection of supporters, including her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, on the edge of a vast field flanked by mountains and bales of hay.

“Our work is far from over,” she said Tuesday evening. Hinting at a presidential bid of her own, she later added, “I have said since Jan. 6 that I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office — and I mean it.”

The results — and the roughly 30-point margin — were a powerful reminder of the GOP’s rapid shift to the right. A party once dominated by national security-oriented, business-friendly conservatives like her father now belongs to Trump, animated by his populist appeal and, above all, his denial of defeat in the 2020 election.

Such lies, which have been roundly rejected by federal and state election officials along with Trump’s own attorney general and judges he appointed, transformed Cheney from an occasional critic of the former president to the clearest voice inside the GOP warning that he represents a threat to democratic norms. She's the top Republican on the House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, an attack she referenced in nodding to her political future.

“I have said since Jan. 6 that I will do whatever it takes to ensure Donald Trump is never again anywhere near the Oval Office — and I mean it," she said.

Four hundred miles to the east of Cheney’s concession speech, festive Hageman supporters gathered at a sprawling outdoor rodeo and Western culture festival in Cheyenne, many wearing cowboy boots, hats and blue jeans.

“Obviously we’re all very grateful to President Trump, who recognizes that Wyoming has only one congressional representative and we have to make it count,” said Hageman, a ranching industry attorney who had finished third in a previous bid for governor.

Echoing Trump’s conspiracy theories, she falsely claimed the 2020 election was “rigged” as she courted his loyalists in the runup to the election.

Trump and his team celebrated Cheney’s loss, which may represent his biggest political victory in a primary season full of them. The former president called the results “a complete rebuke” of the Jan. 6 committee.

“Liz Cheney should be ashamed of herself, the way she acted, and her spiteful, sanctimonious words and actions towards others,” he wrote on his social media platform. “Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion where, I am sure, she will be much happier than she is right now. Thank you WYOMING!”

The news offered a welcome break from Trump's focus on his growing legal entanglements. Just eight days earlier, federal agents executing a search warrant recovered 11 sets of classified records from the former president’s Florida estate.

Cheney’s defeat would have been unthinkable just two years ago. The daughter of a former vice president, she hails from one of the most prominent political families in Wyoming. And in Washington, she was the No. 3 House Republican, an influential voice in GOP politics and policy with a sterling conservative voting record.

Cheney will now be forced from Congress at the end of her third and final term in January. She is not expected to leave Capitol Hill quietly.

She will continue in her leadership role on the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack until it dissolves at the end of the year. And she is actively considering a 2024 White House bid — as a Republican or independent — having vowed to do everything in her power to fight Trump’s influence in her party.

With Cheney’s loss, Republicans who voted to impeach Trump are going extinct.

In all, seven Republican senators and 10 Republican House members backed Trump’s impeachment in the days after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress tried to certify President Joe Biden’s victory. Just two of those 10 House members have won their primaries this year. After two Senate retirements, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is the only such Senate Republican on this year’s ballot.

Cheney was forced to seek assistance from the state’s tiny Democratic minority in her bid to pull off a victory. But Democrats across America, major donors among them, took notice. She raised at least $15 million for her election, a stunning figure for a Wyoming political contest.

Voters responded to the interest in the race. With a little more than half of the vote counted, turnout ran about 50% higher than in the 2018 Republican primary for governor.

If Cheney does ultimately run for president — either as a Republican or an independent — don’t expect her to win Wyoming’s three electoral votes.

“We like Trump. She tried to impeach Trump,” Cheyenne voter Chester Barkell said of Cheney on Tuesday. “I don’t trust Liz Cheney.”

And in Jackson, Republican voter Dan Winder said he felt betrayed by his congresswoman.

“Over 70% of the state of Wyoming voted Republican in the last presidential election and she turned right around and voted against us,” said Winder, a hotel manager. “She was our representative, not her own.”

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AP writers Thomas Peipert and Jill Colvin contributed.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Democrat Mary Peltola won the special election for Alaska's only U.S. House seat on Wednesday, besting a field that included Republican Sarah Palin, who was seeking a political comeback in the state where she was once governor.

Peltola, who is Yup'ik and turned 49 on Wednesday, will become the first Alaska Native to serve in the House and the first woman to hold the seat. She will serve the remaining months of the late Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young's term. Young held the seat for 49 years before his death in March.

"I'm honored and humbled by the support I have received from across Alaska," Peltola said in a statement. "I look forward to continuing Don Young's legacy of bipartisanship, serving all Alaskans and building support for Alaska's interests in DC."

Peltola's victory, coming in Alaska's first statewide ranked choice voting election, is a boon for Democrats, particularly coming off better-than-expected performances in special elections around the country this year following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. She will be the first Democrat to hold the seat since the late U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, who was seeking reelection in 1972 when his plane disappeared. Begich was later declared dead and Young in 1973 was elected to the seat.

Peltola ran as a coalition builder while her two Republican opponents — Palin and Begich's grandson, also named Nick Begich — at times went after each other. Palin also railed against the ranked voting system, which was instituted by Alaska voters.

All three are candidates in the November general election, seeking a two-year House term, which would start in January.

The results came 15 days after the Aug. 16 election, in line with the deadline for state elections officials to receive absentee ballots mailed from outside the U.S. Ranked choice tabulations took place Wednesday after no candidate won more than 50% of the first choice votes. Peltola was in the lead heading into the tabulations.

Wednesday's results were a disappointment for Palin, who was looking to make a political comeback 14 years after she was vaulted onto the national stage when John McCain selected her to be his running mate in the 2008 presidential election. In her run for the House seat, she had widespread name recognition and won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

After Peltola's victory was announced, Palin slammed the ranked voting process as "crazy, convoluted, confusing."

"Though we're disappointed in this outcome, Alaskans know I'm the last one who'll ever retreat," Palin said in a statement.

During the campaign, critics questioned Palin's commitment to Alaska, citing her decision to resign as governor in July 2009, partway through her term. Palin went on to become a conservative commentator on TV and appeared in reality television programs, among other pursuits.

Palin has insisted her commitment to Alaska never wavered and said ahead of the special election that she had "signed up for the long haul."

Peltola, a former state lawmaker who most recently worked for a commission whose goal is to rebuild salmon resources on the Kuskokwim River, cast herself as a "regular" Alaskan. "I'm not a millionaire. I'm not an international celebrity," she said.

Peltola has said she was hopeful that the new system would allow more moderate candidates to be elected.

During the campaign, she emphasized her support of abortion rights and said she wanted to elevate issues of ocean productivity and food security. Peltola said she got a boost after the June special primary when she won endorsements from Democrats and independents who had been in the race. She said she believed her positive messaging also resonated with voters.

"It's been very attractive to a lot of people to have a message of working together and positivity and holding each other up and unity and as Americans none of us are each other's enemy," she said. "That is just a message that people really need to hear right now."

Alaska voters in 2020 approved an elections process that replaced party primaries with open primaries. Under the new system, ranked voting is used in general elections.

Under ranked voting, ballots are counted in rounds. A candidate can win outright with more than 50% of the vote in the first round. If no one hits that threshold, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who chose that candidate as their top pick have their votes count for their next choice. Rounds continue until two candidates remain, and whoever has the most votes wins.

In Alaska, voters last backed a Democrat for president in 1964. But the state also has a history of rewarding candidates with an independent streak. The state has more registered unaffiliated voters than registered Republicans or Democrats combined.

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Follow AP coverage of 2022 Midterm Elections: https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections

JUNEAU, Alaska —

Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has won reelection, defeating Donald Trump-endorsed GOP rival Kelly Tshibaka.

Murkowski beat Tshibaka in the Nov. 8 ranked choice election. The results were announced Wednesday, when elections officials tabulated the ranked choice results after neither candidate won more than 50% of first-choice votes.

The race also included Democrat Pat Chesbro and Republican Buzz Kelley, who suspended his campaign after the August primary and endorsed Tshibaka.

Murkowski was the only Senate Republican who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial last year who was on the ballot this year. Trump was not convicted. But her vote was a sore point for the former president, who vowed to campaign against her.

In 2020, before that year's election and far before Tshibaka jumped into the Senate race, Trump announced plans to campaign against Murkowski after she criticized him: "Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don't care, I'm endorsing. If you have a pulse, I'm with you!"

He appeared at a rally in Anchorage in July for Tshibaka and Sarah Palin, whose run for Alaska's lone U.S. House seat he endorsed. He more recently participated in a telerally for Tshibaka in late October. Tshibaka, who worked in federal inspectors general offices before leading the Alaska Department of Administration for two years, credited Trump with helping to raise her name recognition and give her candidacy a boost.

Murkowski, who was censured by state Republican party leaders last year for offenses that included her impeachment vote, paid little attention to Trump during a campaign in which she emphasized a willingness to work across party lines and focused on her record and seniority. Murkowski, a moderate who has been in the Senate since 2002, is the most senior member of Alaska's congressional delegation following the death in March of Republican Rep. Don Young, who held Alaska's House seat for 49 years.

Murkowski is no stranger to tough reelection fights. She won a general election write-in campaign in 2010 after losing her party primary that year to a tea party Republican. Coming into this race, she had never won a general election with more than 50% of the vote.

This year's elections were held under a new system approved by voters in 2020 that replaced party primaries with open primaries and instituted ranked voting in general elections. Under the open primary system, the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Tshibaka criticized a super PAC aligned with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell for running ads against her when she said those resources could have been used to help Republicans in other states.

She said she "ranked the red," or the Republican candidates, on her ballot — but not in the Senate race. She said she did not consider Murkowski a "red" candidate.

"I didn't vote her either," Murkowski said on Election Day.

A polar bear killed a woman and child in Alaska, authorities said.

Alaska State Troopers said they were alerted to a polar bear attack at around 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Initial reports indicate the polar bear entered a community in Wales and chased multiple residents, according to Alaska State Troopers.

A resident reportedly shot and killed the bear as it attacked the pair.

The names of the victims have not been released. Authorities said next of kin notifications are still in progress.

Wales is located at the tip of Western Alaska. Officials with the state's Department of Fish and Game are planning to travel to the remote area as weather conditions allow to investigate the incident.

Polar bear killings in the U.S. are rare. According to a study published by The Wildlife Society, there were only six polar bear attacks in the U.S. between 1870-2014.

An Army helicopter crashed in Alaska, injuring two soldiers.

According to the Military Times, the helicopter was involved in a "rollover" accident on Sunday in Talkeetna. That's about 100 miles north of Anchorage.

The helicopter was reportedly taking off when it crashed.

The injured soldiers were taken to a hospital for treatment and released Monday afternoon, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The cause of the crash is still unclear. Investigative teams are expected to visit the Talkeetna Airport crash site this week.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the two injured soldiers are part of the 25th Combat Aviation Battalion at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

The White House announced Friday that President Joe Biden ordered the military to down what it described as a "high-altitude object" hovering over Alaska earlier in the day.

"The Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours," National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby told reporters when asked about rumors of another suspected Chinese surveillance balloon.

The high-altitude object, Kirby said, was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet and "posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight."

He continued, "Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of the Pentagon, President Biden ordered the military to down the object, and they did. And it came inside our territorial waters – and those waters right now are frozen – but inside territorial airspace and over territorial waters. Fighter aircraft assigned to U.S. Northern Command took down the object within last hour."

The object, Kirby added, was taken down with U.S. Northern Command fighter aircraft.

Kirby also offered some nomenclature guidance on the object, which the U.S. is not referring to as a balloon and has yet to attribute to China or any other entity.

"We're calling this an object because that's the best description we have right now. We don't know who owns it – whether it's state-owned or corporate-owned or privately owned, we just don't know," Kirby said.

He added: "We don't have any information that would confirm a stated purpose for this object. We do expect to be able to recover the debris since it fell not only within our territorial space, but on what we what believe is frozen water. So a recovery effort will be made and we're hopeful that it will be successful and then we can learn a little bit more about it."

The object was "much, much smaller" than the Chinese suspected spy balloon, Kirby said, comparing it to "roughly the size of a small car." The balloon downed last Saturday was described by U.S. officials as approximately the size of three buses.

Biden "absolutely was involved in this decision" and ordered it at the recommendation of Pentagon leaders, Kirby said.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

An Alaska fishing adventure became a nightmare for a family of eight when disaster struck one of the two boats they chartered over the Memorial Day weekend, leaving three people dead and two more missing despite a desperate search over hundreds of square miles of ocean.

Related video above: Billions of snow crabs have vanished from Alaskan waters

The tragedy tore the Tyau family apart: Two sisters and one of their husbands are dead, while the other’s partner and the boat captain remain missing off southeast Alaska four days after the boat was found partially submerged off an island.

Authorities suspended a more than 20-hour search covering 825 square miles on Monday and have no plans to resume it.

The women's parents, older brother and sister-in-law were on the other charter boat as part of a three-day trip to a destination fishery known for king salmon and groundfish.

The sisters and their sister-in-law didn’t like fishing but joined the vacation to spend more time with a family that was usually split between Hawaii and Los Angeles.

“It was just supposed to be a simple family get-together for eight of us, since we haven’t been together in the same spot for so long,” Michael Tyau, the older brother, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “For it to turn out like this is really devastating.”

The Tyau siblings – Michael, Brandi and Danielle – grew up fishing in Hawaii with their parents. Michael Tyau said his sisters hated being cold and wet but would endure it for their water-loving parents and later their partners.

Brandi Tyau's longtime partner, Robert Solis – a Navy diver-turned-private investigator who was stationed in Hawaii when they met decades ago – was someone for whom "the ocean really was his life," one of Solis’ brothers said.

So when the Tyau siblings' mother suggested a family trip last year, a fishing vacation in the Sitka Sound won out.

"My sisters, I think, reluctantly agreed," Michael Tyau said.

He and his wife flew from Los Angeles to Alaska on Thursday with Brandi Tyau, 56, and Solis, 61. They met up with their parents, sister Danielle Agcaoili, 53, and her husband, 57-year-old Maury Agcaoili, all Hawaii residents.

The whole family stayed in a lodge owned by charter boat company Kingfisher Charters in Sitka. The small port city with a backdrop of a stunning volcanic mountain is located on the shore of Baranof Island, which is part of a cluster of islands dripping off Alaska's southeast coastline.

The area is a "premier fishing destination" for tourists because the many bays and passageways created by the islands provide protection from the wind and waves on days when the open sea is too rough, Kingfisher Charters says on its website.

Forrest Braden, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Guides Organization, said anglers often stay for multiple days on trips to the region.

"It's more of a fishing-themed trip for a lot of people, rather than being one of a variety of activities that they do," he said.

The boats the Tyau clan chartered, named the Pockets and the Awakin, set out Friday amid rough conditions. Michael Tyau said his sisters and wife spent the day's voyage seasick in the two boats’ cabins and skipped Saturday’s trip to recover on land.

When Sunday dawned, their last vacation day before Monday flights home, the women rejoined the boats.

Danielle Agcaoili said "she didn’t want to let anybody down," Michael Tyau recalled through tears.

The boat captains opted for different fishing spots. Aboard the Pockets, Michael Tyau said he "in no way felt in jeopardy, like this wasn’t safe for us to fish in."

The Pockets returned to the lodge Sunday evening, but the family began worrying when Brandi Tyau, Danielle Agcaoili, Maury Agcaoili and Solis didn’t respond to text messages and never arrived for dinner.

The Awakin hadn't come back, the charter company told Michael Tyau, and they lost radio contact with the captain, 32-year-old Morgan Robidou.

What happened aboard the Awakin on Sunday remains unclear. Efforts to recover the 30-foot aluminum vessel have been hampered by rough seas and strong winds.

The bodies of Brandi Tyau and Danielle Agcaoili were found inside the cabin. Maury Agcaoili's body was discovered near the boat. Solis and Robidou were still considered missing Thursday.

The boat was last seen Sunday afternoon near Sitka, authorities said, but around 7 p.m. Sunday was found partially submerged off Low Island, about 10 miles west of Sitka.

Coast Guard investigators are working to determine the timeline and cause of the incident. The area was experiencing 6-foot to 11-foot waves, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

Kingfisher Charters declined to respond to questions outside a statement released Wednesday saying the company is "devastated by the loss of the guests and captain of the Awakin" and is fully cooperating with an investigation it hopes "furnishes answers to the questions as to how it occurred."

For the Tyau family, it’s too late. The deaths of Brandi Tyau, the reserved middle child who was a calming influence on Solis, and Danielle Agcaoili, the happy-go-lucky baby of the family who was often called "Dani," has been devastating.

Brandi Tyau and Solis leave behind one son together, as well as Solis' three sons from a previous relationship. The Agcaoilis have two children, one of whom just graduated from high school.

The family's vacation was meant for them to enjoy a holiday weekend away and bridge the gap between their homes in Hawaii and Los Angeles.

"I don’t think all eight of us have been together in over 10 years," Michael Tyau said.

Now, only four are left.

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Dazio reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press News Researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed.

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This is Jesse Barb's dog regular morning. I let the dog outside and I never shut the door all the way so that he can come back in himself and, and Jesse did come back in, but he wasn't alone. I think I stared at it for three or four seconds before it really dawned on me. Yes, he's in the house, Jesse. He had brought *** friend. The husband thought he was dreaming *** really, really big friend. He came walking into the living room. I stood up, took about two steps and realized there was *** huge moose in my house that had just followed Jesse in. Let me repeat that in case you missed it. *** moose in my house. So I'm hollering. There's *** moose in the house, *** normal reaction. The moose wanted the green stuff. He was starting to munch on all of the salad bar plants that I have in this back atrium room, fresh veggies in an otherwise snowy Alaska town that Moose didn't have *** care in the world. He was just enjoying his salad bar. So Barb called the police. They asked if she had *** chair to put in the hallway to keep the moose at bay. Well, yeah, I have four kitchen chairs, but none of them are six ft tall that he couldn't get over. So, I don't know what good that would do. So, we didn't put *** chair down. Yeah, that's like ***, that's like ***, throwing *** toothpick at *** giant or something. Right. Right. So, one officer reaching across the kitchen sink and so he just stuck the taser about *** foot away from the moose just for the noise, the munching moose, he wasn't tased or fazed by the noise. And then the other officer hollered and then he got *** little bit startled and *** good old yelling, the moose did have *** little trouble turning around that on his way out. He did manage to get about *** two ft bite of my plant to take, to go. And as to why the moose came and Barb says Jesse, he may have been *** bit lonely. Would you tell me when I called you, Jesse just needed, wanted *** friend. You wanted bullwinkle? Yeah, he, he wanted, he wanted to have AAA sleepover and dinner with his friend bullwinkle. So after about 25 minutes bullwinkle made it out, but the salad bar was calling his name. Oh, Lord, he's coming back. He knows I know The door's shut, but I hope you don't kick it open. It's about two ft from me right now. Oh, the joys of living in Alaska. Did you have *** little talk with Jesse? Did you do? Yes, we did. We told him that he has to ask first before he invites company in. And that's no, go away. You cannot come in my door. The all good news.

Moose breaks into Alaska home, eats plants

Updated: 3:53 PM EDT Apr 9, 2023

Barbara Nickels' day started like any other morning in her Soldotna, Alaska, residence."On a regular morning, I let the dog outside and I never shut the door all the way so he can come back in himself," Nickels said.Her dog, Jesse, did return to the house. However, this time he brought an unlikely guest with him.There was a moose, which averages at about 6 feet tall in Alaska, making its way into her living room."He came walking into the living room I stood up and took about two steps and realized there was a huge moose in my house that had just followed Jesse in," she said.Nickels began hollering to her family about a moose in the house, while the large animal remained unbothered, munching on her plants.Nickels then decided to call the police, who helped her lure the moose out of the house by having an officer outside shouting to get the moose's attention, and another inside activating a stun gun, just for the noise."On his way out, he did manage to get about a two-foot bite of my plants to go," Nickels said.The moose returned to the outside of Nickels' house, potentially hoping for another bite of plants, but never made it back inside the house.

SOLDOTNA, Alaska —

Barbara Nickels' day started like any other morning in her Soldotna, Alaska, residence.

"On a regular morning, I let the dog outside and I never shut the door all the way so he can come back in himself," Nickels said.

Her dog, Jesse, did return to the house. However, this time he brought an unlikely guest with him.

There was a moose, which averages at about 6 feet tall in Alaska, making its way into her living room.

"He came walking into the living room I stood up and took about two steps and realized there was a huge moose in my house that had just followed Jesse in," she said.

Nickels began hollering to her family about a moose in the house, while the large animal remained unbothered, munching on her plants.

Nickels then decided to call the police, who helped her lure the moose out of the house by having an officer outside shouting to get the moose's attention, and another inside activating a stun gun, just for the noise.

"On his way out, he did manage to get about a two-foot bite of my plants to go," Nickels said.

The moose returned to the outside of Nickels' house, potentially hoping for another bite of plants, but never made it back inside the house.