CHEMAINUS, B.C. — A dirt biker and a dog handler are being credited with finding a 67-year-old woman from Vancouver Island who vanished for six nights before being discovered alive off an old logging road.
RCMP say Irene Paquet from Chemainus was driving home from the grocery store on July 29 when she turned onto the wrong road and drove nearly 45 kilometres into backcountry.
Cpl. Krista Hobday of the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP says the biker spotted the woman's vehicle backwards off the road and posted its photo to social media, where family members made the connection and sent the information to police.
Hobday says that at first light last Thursday, a dog handler from Nanaimo was flown to the area and spent five hours searching before finding Paquet down a deep embankment.
Const. Gary O'Brien with Nanaimo RCMP says the dog handler felt a shock go through him as they reached out and grabbed hands, because the officer had feared she was dead.
Paquet was airlifted to hospital suffering dehydration but did not have any other major injuries, although police say she does have a health condition that may have contributed to her ordeal.
