Family of missing Penticton couple make public plea for help
Posted April 4, 2011 9:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PENTICTON (NEWS1130) – The family of a Penticton couple who went missing in the US two weeks ago is hoping crews in the States will do an aerial search for the pair.
Al and Rita Chretien left on March 19th for a Las Vegas trade show, but never arrived at their hotel.
Their son, Raymond, has hired a small plane to fly over parts of his parents’ route, but there has been no sign of them. He says they’ve narrowed their search, thanks to surveillance video of his parents at an Oregon gas station.
“Was it them, or was it someone else that maybe acquired their [credit] card? Now we know for sure it was them. We’ve got a confirmed sighting there, which helps narrow the focus, for sure.”
“I know the investigators are going to be looking at all the points from that Shell Station on, towards their destination, like motels and those types of things, in an effort to try to find out where they may have ended up,” he adds.
This afternoon, their family will be making a public plea for help during a news conference. The RCMP has eight investigators on the case and is working with police in the US.
Chretien hasn’t ruled out a second plane hire to search for his parents, and hopes search crews stateside will do a fly-over as well.
Albert Chretien is described as 59-years-old, white, 5’6″, 175 lbs, with brown hair that’s balding on the top and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a khaki button-up dress shirt, black jeans, black shoes, and a black baseball cap with “RITAL” written on in white lettering.
Rita Chretien is 56-years-old, white, 5’3″, 135 lbs, with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes. She wears glasses and was last seen wearing sunglasses. She was wearing a brown jacket with a light-coloured collar, a white blouse, and dark leather shoes.
They were driving a 2000 Chevrolet Astro Van (BC licence 212-CAV). It’s light metallic brown with a black sun-visor atop the windshield and body colored running boards along the side.
A Facebook page has been set up for them. More than 600 people have joined the “Missing – Al and Rita Chretien” page.
