Rita Chretien remains in B.C. hospital as search continues in Nevada for husband

<p>PENTICTON, B.C. – As Rita Chretien recovers from her ordeal in a Penticton, B.C. hospital, searchers continue to scour the Nevada backcountry for her missing husband.</p> <p>The B.C. woman was found last Friday by hunters, 49 days after she and her husband, Albert, got mired in the mud on their way to Las Vegas.</p> <p>Rescue teams were on the ground and in the air Wednesday after days of on-again-off-again searching due to bad weather.</p> <p>Sgt. Kevin McKinney of the Elko County Sheriff’s Office said about 20 searchers were scouring a network of dirt roads for Albert Chretien.</p> <p>Rita Chretien saw a handful of visitors Wednesday, including Neil Allenbrand, pastor of the Church of the Nazarene.</p> <p>Allenbrand told the Penticton Herald that Chretien is doing amazingly well and blamed a GPS unit in their vehicle for guiding them astray.</p> <p>Those familiar with the area where Chretien was found say they know its dangers and don’t even venture into the area in winter, which can sometimes last into May.</p> <p>”Them mountains are nasty, some of the gnarliest mountains you ever seen,” said Bill Landon, one of only about 20 year-round Mountain City residents.</p> <p>”The mud up there is something terrible. You sink up to your knees in it. When it rains back there, those roads turn to plumb mush.”</p> <p>It’s hard to imagine how anyone, let alone outsiders, would attempt the off-road crossing the Chretiens tried, said Mel Basanez, a 74-year-old retired grocery store owner who has lived here most of his life.</p> <p>”I can’t imagine getting off the highway in this country at that time of year, even this time of year,” Basanez balked, looking up at the peaks that disappear into grey clouds. “The minute the guy got off the highway, he should have realized he’s in trouble.”</p> <p>McKinney said the Chretiens used their new GPS to find the shortest route to Jackpot. If they had typed the town’s name into the device from anywhere in the area, the shortest route would have led them off-highway and along possibly a half-dozen different Forest Service roads labelled only with numbers.</p> <p>”I’m no expert on GPS devices and how they work, but if you plug in for the shortest distance to any location, it’ll give you that, but that’s not always the best way to go,” McKinney said of the remote, rugged terrain.</p> <p>”I think that GPS really screwed them up,” said Ryan Stowell, whose family owns the ranch where Herman made the emergency call. “There’s no reason for us to be up there, unless we go up there to see if the road is open to Elko.”</p> <p>The Chretiens were last seen on surveillance video March 19 while stopping for gas in Oregon. It’s not clear where they travelled next or what route they took into the spider web of forest roads that wind across the mountains.</p> <p>In a recording of the 911 call after she was found, a clearly incredulous Elko County law enforcement dispatcher expressed shock and disbelief that she had survived.</p> <p>”She’s been in it for a month?” the dispatcher asked when hunters called after finding Chretien. The call was released Wednesday.</p> <p>Allenbrand spent 15 to 20 minutes with Chretien in her hospital room Wednesday and agreed Chretien seemed in excellent spirits, despite her ordeal.</p> <p>”This is not just a miracle of physical survival, it’s a miracle of emotional, mental and spiritual survival,” he told the Herald.</p> <p>”She just looks like the whole person that we know and love. It’s just amazing to see her so well, even though she’s struggling and dealing with the issue of (not) knowing where Al is.”</p> <p>The Interior Health Authority said in a news release Chretien is in relatively good spirits after being transferred from a hospital in Twin Falls, Idaho.</p> <p>”She is eating small meals and is tolerating an advancing diet,” said the statement.</p> <p>Through the health authority, the Chretien family offered thanks for the outpouring of well wishes they have received since the couple went missing, but they appealed for privacy.</p> <p>”The family understands and appreciates the ongoing interest and the desire for further information. However, at this point in time, they’re asking the media and public to please respect their personal request for privacy,” said the statement from the authority.</p> <p>- with files from the Penticton Herald, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press</p>