Missing tourist Rita Chretien found alive in Nevada (husband still missing)

BBC ^ | May 7, 2011 | Unknown

[decimon]

A Canadian tourist missing in a remote wooded area of the US state of Nevada for seven weeks has been found alive near her stranded vehicle by hunters.

Rita Chretien, 56, told police her van had got stuck in mud in mid-March, and that her husband Albert, 59, had gone to get help on foot.

She said she had survived since then on "trail mix" snack food and water.

Police abandoned the search for the couple in April but have now resumed the hunt for Mr Chretien.

The couple were driving from their home in Penticton, British Columbia, to Las Vegas, when they decided to go off-road to see the landscape in Elko County, one of America's largest and most sparsely-populated counties.

[decimon]

The couple took a detour while driving from British Columbia to Las Vegas

[Blennos]

Seven weeks!

[Red_Devil 232]

They must have been well off the beaten path for the vehicle not to be found for seven weeks. It is not good to attempt short cuts when you are not familiar with the area or roads.

[Bigh4u2]

Husband still missing...

Hmmmm... wonder what she ate for those 7 weeks out there?

[Bigh4u2]

I should have said besides ‘trail mix, snack food and water’.

:)

[Jack Hydrazine]

They probably followed the GPS blindly without using any common sense.

[Red_Devil 232]

Article says trail mix. They must have had a big ol’ bag of the stuff. Wonder if she tried starting a fire? The spare tire would have put out a lot of black smoke!

[null and void]

[Inyo-Mono]

Sadly this happens more often than people realize. Driving off road, unprepared, into very remote areas is dangerous. Three skeletons were recently found in remote sections of Death Valley National Park. Two of them were tourists from Germany, missing for over nine years.

[svcw]

Sounds like a movie.

[ladyvet]

I live in Elko and this is the first I've even heard of them being lost. The weather has sucked this spring but that's the norm for here. Something doesn't seem right about this story.

[momtothree]

“The spare tire would have put out a lot of black smoke”

Never thought of that... you are a smart cookie!

[svcw]

GPS ha! The GPS on my phone always has me about 1500 miles from where I am. I just looked it and it placed me in Chicago IL when I am in Santa Barbara, CA.

[Krankor]

That was a good laugh for a Saturday morning.

[JimSEA]

It’s easy to get of the beaten track and get stuck in Elko county. In the spring, the surface of the ground can look dry and be mud just inches down. It took me five hours to dig out and put sage brush iunder the tires once. Early spring fishing on the many streams near the Ruby Mts can be touch and go but good fishing. Awesome country and lonely. Aside from an occasional waddie, there is no one out there.

[momtothree]

Okay, I’ll bite. What is a waddie? (I don’t get out much)

[IYAS9YAS]

GPS ha! The GPS on my phone always has me about 1500 miles from where I am. I just looked it and it placed me in Chicago IL when I am in Santa Barbara, CA.

Sorry about that. I'll reset it.

[mad_as_he$$]

Very lucky woman. I know the area well. I do not go there casually in the Summer. Almost every night since she was “lost” would of been freezing, record snowfall this year and hungry mountain lions.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

I just looked it and it placed me in Chicago IL when I am in Santa Barbara, CA.

No problem. According to the democrats running Chicago, that makes you eligible to run for mayor there.

[mad_as_he$$]

I was just going to ping you. I had not heard this story until now either. I agree something weird.