Missing dog walker, three canines found alive in Coquitlam backcountry
Posted November 22, 2017 1:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – A dog walker who hadn’t been seen since Monday has been found alive in the Coquitlam watershed, along with three canines she had been caring for.
#BREAKING Rescuers find missing dog walker Annette Poitras alive in Coquitlam watershed — 3 dogs also found alive. pic.twitter.com/rmkVOxVZQs
— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) November 22, 2017
An intense three-day search by trained rescue volunteers from across the region has wrapped up with a happy ending some didn’t think would be possible.
As the rain pounded down and the hours stretched into days, it would’ve been easy to get cynical about Annette Poitras’ chances. However, her husband Marcel Poitras refused to ever give up hope.
Shortly after she was found at about 11 a.m., he showed his gratitude to the trained volunteer rescue crews who found his wife hurt, but alive. “I knew it. I knew it and it happened. She’s doing well. She’s talking. She’s got some back issues, you know… she’s coming home.”
Search and rescue crews from the Sunshine Coast to Surrey being coordinated from @CoquitlamSAR mobile command truck. Annette Poitras has been missing since Monday near Westwood Plateau pic.twitter.com/d4hmj0nr5t
— Mike Lloyd (@llikemoyd) November 22, 2017
He says he was incredibly relieved to hear the news she was OK. “Obviously, I’m amazed at the type of people that are here, that have been out searching day and night. I cannot possibly say enough. This is the result they work for. This is their reward and they made it themselves. They deserve everything they can get.”
RCMP Corporal Michael McLaughlin explains where exactly the 56-year-old woman was found. “She was found in a basin, well into the Coquitlam watershed, so outside the normal areas you would expect on the trails, well north of the areas most people spend time doing recreation in.”
Poitras is said to be sore and she has been airlifted to the hospital as doctors assess the scope of her injuries.
The three dogs — Roxie, Chloe and Bubba — she was found with are also alive.
