After wandering in the wilderness for two weeks, Rhonda Cardinal was found safe and sound last week.
Cardinal walked off on the evening of July 31 after she and her common-law husband lost the keys to their ATV in the dense brush of the trees, about seven kilometres away from their remote hunting camp northeast of Calling Lake. While looking for the keys to the vehicle, Cardinal reportedly grew impatient and wandered off in a blacked-out state. She was reported missing on Aug. 1 when RCMP were notified that she did not return to a small remote hunting cabin after walking away the previous day.
After nearly two weeks in the woods, Cardinal was found last Wednesday by a Husky Oil employee who was on his way to a remote worksite about 14 miles from the cabin. The workman picked Cardinal up and took her to the worksite, where they connected with a Delta Helicopter pilot who flew her back to Athabasca where she went to hospital for treatment of minor injuries to her body, mainly her feet, after traveling through rough terrain including boggy areas and muskeg and thickly treed areas.
Cardinal’s family was very glad to hear she was alive and doing well after fending for herself in the wilderness for so long.
“I give her a lot of credit for having managed to survive in all the bush and swampy areas for so long,” said Sgt. Brian Scott of the Athabasca RCMP.
“It’s not an easy terrain to drive through, let alone walk through, and it’s amazing that she survived the rough land.”
Scott coordinated the search effort when Cardinal was initially reported missing. The investigation included a dedicated number of RCMP resources and volunteers who searched by ground with foot patrols and at least two different air searches with the RCMP helicopter.
According to reports, by the tenth day of the search mission, efforts were called off, but the family was confident in her “bush skills” and never doubted she was alive.
Scott said he couldn’t thank everybody enough for all their efforts in helping to locate Cardinal.
“There was a huge amount of area that we covered by air and land, and there is no way to thank all the people who donated their time and effort in helping locate Rhonda, the work that was put in by so many people from different organizations and volunteers in hopes of finding her alive,” Scott said. “We recognize the continuous effort they all put in while working through adverse and challenging conditions, and we owe them a large heartfelt thank you.”
Cardinal could not be reached for comment before press time.
