by 
Dog Walker Goes Missing, Rescuers Can’t Believe What They Come Across During the Search
Dog walker Annette Poitras is known throughout her community. She was having an ordinary November day walking her three dogs in the Canadian wilderness until the weather became treacherous and things took a drastic turn for the worse. After she didn’t return home, her husband Marcel was worried and he called the police, resulting in a search and rescue mission to find the dog walker and the dogs.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
When they finally found the group three days later, rescuers came across something they had never seen before.
Typical Day
56-year-old Annette Poitras built a reputation in her community thanks to her love for dog walking and she managed to make a career out of it. She was familiar with the nearby hiking trails, especially the paths around Coquitlam’s Eagle Mountain, and she would spend her days walking her dogs there.
Image via @Annette Poitras Collins/Facebook
Monday, November 20 started off like any other day and Annette was headed out to Eagle Mountain with her three dogs, but things were about to be anything but typical.
Heading Out
As the dog walker did almost any other day, she headed out on a walk with three dogs: her dog, a Collie named Chloe, and two of her client’s dogs: a Puggle named Bubba and a Boxer named Roxy. And before heading out the door on her walk, Annette said goodbye to her husband Marcel.
The dog walker had only planned on being gone for about an hour, and like she usually did—she didn’t tell her husband where she was headed to. But when lots of time passed and she didn’t return home, her husband started to worry.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
What could possibly be taking her so long?
Stormy Weather
For Marcel, time was passing by so slowly and it was starting to get dark. But Annette still hadn’t returned home and he was getting more and more worried. He couldn’t help but wonder where she was and what was taking her so long.
His anxieties were only worsened when the weather took a turn for the worse and a storm called Pineapple Express came in, bringing massive rainfall.
Image via @Marcel Poitras/Facebook
His wife was still out there and it was dark and stormy—the weather conditions were not safe for anyone. Why hadn’t Annette returned home?
Concerned Husband
So, when she still hadn’t returned home by nighttime, Marcel went to the area where she usually went walking and he found something that could give him a clue about her whereabouts—her van. But the van was empty—Annette was nowhere to be seen.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
After not hearing from his wife and finding her empty van, Marcel contacted the authorities to let them know that Annette hadn’t returned home from her walk earlier that day and that she was missing.
Search and Rescue
From there, a plan was made by the Royal Mounted Police and the Coquitlam Search and Rescue Team (SAR). Marcel did his best to help in the search, telling them the areas that she frequented, but there was only so much he could do—the wilderness was huge and there was no way to limit the search.
They were looking for anything—a cellphone, articles of clothing, dog leashes. But they came up empty.
Image via @CoquitlamSAR/Twitter
What’s worse is the storm was getting worse and there was still no word from Annette. Things weren’t looked good for the dog walker, or the dogs for that matter.
Sound Sweep
After receiving a call from the concerned husband, SAR set up a command center on Westwood Plateau. They were ready to get the search underway and they needed to move quickly because the area around the plateau consisted of many trails and it was getting dark outside.
And so, SAR started their search with a technique known as a “sound sweep”, which used
whistles to make noise in hopes of getting the dog walker or the dogs’ attention. They also used search dogs from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
But after the first night, they came up empty. They didn’t find Annette or the dogs. And time was of the essence.
Continuing the Search
At daylight of day 2, the SAR team continued their search. But they would need more manpower because the storm had gotten worse, making it hard to hear the whistles.
By this point, over 100 rescuers were involved and it was time to increase the search efforts with helicopters.
The search and rescue team were getting exhausted and the severe weather conditions weren’t making things easier. 24 hours had passed since Annette vanished and there was still no word from her.
Screenshot via NEWS 1130/YouTube
But they weren’t going to give up that easily. Annette’s life depended on them.
Increasing Manpower
SAR scoured every known and newly-discovered trail in Eagle Mountain. They had over 100 rescuers and helicopters and they were now focusing their efforts on the sky and land.
Screenshot via Vancouver Sun/YouTube
While search and rescuers were looking for Annette on land by foot, an Air One police helicopter was busy scanning the area from the sky with a thermal imaging camera, hoping to detect body heat from Annette or the dogs.
Sky and Land
But the Air One police helicopter came back with nothing. The tree coverage was too thick and the storm wasn’t dying down anytime soon, making it impossible for the helicopters to pick up anything.
They failed to detect heat sources from Annette or the dogs.
The odds were looking bleak and the situation was becoming more dire as time passed by.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
While this was a huge setback, the search and rescue team wasn’t going to give up that easily. They weren’t going to stop their search until the dog walker and the three dogs were found—dead or alive.
Nighttime
As the second day was coming to an end and the sky darkened, rescuers had no choice but to postpone the search until the next morning. The weather was becoming more hazardous and the terrain was treacherous, making it dangerous for the search and rescue team.
With the conditions being too severe to continue the search, it was difficult not to give up hope. Even if Annette would be found, what condition would she be in? It was freezing cold and the rain wasn’t stopping anytime soon.
Screenshot from Global News
But they were about to get a tip that would change the rescue mission.
Helpful Tip
Annette had been missing for two days and things were looking bleak for the dog walker. But then a useful tip came in that helped narrow the search.
On Monday afternoon, a man named Marc Herr stopped for a cigarette while driving in the mountains and he happened to spot Annette!
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
At the time, he thought nothing of it, after all, she was just a dog walker walking her dogs, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. So what changed?
Nighttime
As the second day was coming to an end and the sky darkened, rescuers had no choice but to postpone the search until the next morning. The weather was becoming more hazardous and the terrain was treacherous, making it dangerous for the search and rescue team.
With the conditions being too severe to continue the search, it was difficult not to give up hope. Even if Annette would be found, what condition would she be in? It was freezing cold and the rain wasn’t stopping anytime soon.
Screenshot from Global News
But they were about to get a tip that would change the rescue mission.
Helpful Tip
Annette had been missing for two days and things were looking bleak for the dog walker. But then a useful tip came in that helped narrow the search.
On Monday afternoon, a man named Marc Herr stopped for a cigarette while driving in the mountains and he happened to spot Annette!
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
At the time, he thought nothing of it, after all, she was just a dog walker walking her dogs, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. So what changed?
Making the News
While watching the news the next day, Herr learned about Annette’s disappearance and he recognized her. She wasn’t just a woman walking her dogs—she was missing and in trouble.
"I saw it on the news and [thought] oh my god, I'd seen her and the dogs," Herr told CTV Vancouver.
Screenshot via Vancouver Sun/YouTube
And so, Herr reached out to authorities immediately. The tip helped them narrow down the search area, but it was still large and the conditions were treacherous.
Narrowing the Search
However, that wasn’t the only tip that the rescuers were working with. When Annette’s husband told authorities that his wife was missing, he told them that she carried a cellphone with her all the time.
The Royal Mounted Police ran a trace of her cellphone and it connected to a cell tower on Burke Mountain, which helped them focus in.
There was still a lot of land to cover, but with these tips, they had a better idea of where Annette and the dogs could be.
Screenshot via Vancouver Sun/YouTube
Things were finally starting to look up.
300 Search and Rescuers
By now Annette had been missing for three days and on the third day, they added an additional helicopter and two more SAR dogs. Over the course of the three days, over 300 search and rescue workers were part of the mission to find Annette and her dogs.
On Wednesday, roughly 100 people were involved in the operation and they were finally about to get a big break.
Screenshot from CTV News
During one of the sound sweeps, they decided to go out a few extra miles and that’s when they finally heard a response. Could it be Annette?
Cry for Help
At around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, the SAR team heard a response while doing a sound sweep. In the distance, they heard cries for help and loud barking.
"Immediately we heard a loud yell," volunteer Aidon Pyne told CTV Vancouver. "It went from just nose down, working hard to cheering and getting over there to help out."
Screenshot from Global News
Now that they made contact with the dog walker, they weren’t aware of her condition and they had no idea what to expect. Nothing could have prepared them for what they were about to see.
A Bad Fall
Now that we’ve talked about Marcel and the SAR team, let’s go back to Monday when Annette headed out for her walk with the dogs. What could have possibly gone wrong?
Well, while waking Chloe, Roxy, and Bubba, the storm started and Annette ended up slipping on a log.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
But it wasn’t just any slip—she couldn’t get back up. The dog walker had hit her head and fallen so hard that she knocked herself unconscious. We can’t even imagine how scary that must’ve been!
Blacking Out
By the time she woke up, she had no idea how long she had been out, but she couldn’t find her phone or her gloves. It was no longer dark outside—it was now light out—she had slept through the night. Annette was disoriented and she was struggling to move, but the first thing she did when she woke up was making sure all of her dogs were okay.
That’s when she discovered that one of the dogs was missing and so was her phone.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
She had no idea what time it was or how long she had blacked out. But she knew that she couldn’t leave until she found the missing dog.
Lost Dog
Annette went searching for the dog, but after the fall, she was injured and she struggled to move. Eventually, she found the dog, but she couldn’t keep moving as the weather had gotten worse.
Annette was hungry and tired and she had no energy left to keep moving. What’s worse is she had no supplies with her because she thought this would be just another ordinary dog walk. She hadn’t planned on being gone for more than an hour.
Image via @AnnettesDoggieDaycare/Facebook
While the dog walker was cold from the downpouring rain, the dogs were also suffering and the four of them needed to take care of each other if they were going to make it out of this alive.
Help is On the Way
But we can’t help but wonder, did Annette hear the search and rescue team calling out for her or see the helicopters in the sky during the three days she was in Eagle Mountain?
Well, on Monday night, which was her first night in the wilderness and the start of the search, she actually saw the helicopters flying over her and she waved her jacket, hoping to get their attention.
Screenshot from Global News
But due to the dense bushes and trees, the rescuers didn’t see her. The helicopters also didn’t pick up any body heat because the brush was too thick.