Elderly woman dies, husband hospitalized after wrong turn gets them stranded in California
By APThursday, February 4, 2010
Woman, 78, dies after her car is stranded in CA
WOODLAND, Calif. — Authorities say a 78-year-old woman died of hypothermia after she and her husband took a wrong turn in Northern California and got stranded.
Police say Harold and Raquel Labbe of Hayward set out for Cache Creek Casino on Jan. 27. They took a wrong turn onto a dirt road running through an orchard and got their car stuck in mud.
Police believe the couple ran the engine to stay warm, then sought help on foot after running out of gas.
The couple’s son reported them missing Jan. 29, saying concern was high because his mother had Alzheimer’s disease.
A farmworker found 76-year-old Harold Labbe unconscious Monday, about 50 feet from the car. Authorities found Raquel Labbe’s body several hundred yards away.
Harold Labbe is recovering from hypothermia at a hospital.
