Wife of man whose remains found in Nevada grateful for his efforts to get help

PENTICTON, B.C. – The wife of a man whose remains were found in the Nevada wilderness a year and a half after he went for help says she’s grateful he walked for 14 kilometres after their van got stuck in the mud.

Rita Chretien says she and her family will be even more grateful this Thanksgiving now that her husband Albert’s remains have been found by two elk hunters.

Chretien says she had come to terms that her husband would not return, but she’s glad there’s now the tangible evidence of how he died.

Chretien’s body was found in a heavily wooded area of Merritt Mountain, 11 kilometres west from where he set off, and police identified him through items in his pocket.

Dozens of searches were conducted by police and volunteers in the vast Nevada area around where Chretien disappeared with a GPS and got lost.

His wife survived for 49 days in the couple’s van and was found near death by hunters aboard ATVs.