Senior dies while trying to find help near Crowsnest Pass
Posted Mar 27, 2013 7:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Sunday drive for three people from the Fort MacLeod, Alberta area has turned tragic after their vehicle got stuck in the snow.
The body of a 71-year-old man was found Monday morning about 15 kilometres away from his vehicle.
RCMP Sergeant Keith Bott says they believe the man, with a new hip and knee, hiked about six or seven hours before he collapsed just a few kilometres away from nearby homes.
Around the same time that two firefighters out snowmobiling found his body, the Mounties got a call about some overdue travellers and a search was initiated.
Bott says the dead man’s wife and a friend were found about five kilometres away from their vehicle, which they slept in Sunday night.
The two decided they would literally follow the man’s footprints to safety; a decision that could have proved fatal, because they were not dressed for the elements.
The Crowsnest Pass area is about a two-and-a-half hour drive southwest of Calgary; snow in the area where the vehicle got stuck road was 90 centimetres deep in spots.
The names of those involved have not been released.
