86-year-old man tells story of survival

ALBUQUERQUE(KRQE) - Dana Davis and his wife Betty were stranded for six days on a remote Arizona road as they traveled home to Albuquerque. As their last option they began to walk, but only Dana survived to recount their story.

Boy Scout skills, yarn and just plain stubbornness all played a role in the survival of Dana Davis when he and his wife, Betty, took a wrong turn and became stranded in a remote Arizona forest.

The couple was headed back to Albuquerque after a Thanksgiving trip to Chandler, Ariz. But they missed their turn in Globe on Dec. 1, took a presumed shortcut back to their route and became stranded when their car hit a rock puncturing the transmission case.

Dana, 86, survived, but Betty, 82, didn't.

During a news conference Friday at the Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center in Globe, Lonnie Sexton said the choices her parents made were neither silly nor willy-nilly but thought through and measured.

Dana and Betty sat in the car for four days, starting it up periodically to stay warm and carefully rationing two sandwiches, three cookies, two candy bars, and melted snow.

"Monday, the gas gauge on the car said "TILT," you are practically out," Dana said.

After that, the couple layered up clothing and started to walk. But Betty only made it 20 feet before she collapsed and died.

But before they left, Betty gave Dana advice. Use her roll of knitting yarn to mark where he had been. This would eventually lead recovery crews to her body.

Betty wrote notes throughout their ordeal. One note said, maybe we should get a cell phone. Dana added to the note: maybe we should have gotten airline tickets.

Dana walked about seven miles before an Arizona game officer found him Wednesday morning. He talked about sleeping under a tree on a moonlit night and thinking back to his four days with Betty in the car.

"I had to sit there and talk for four days, and she said she got more out of me there, than in 60 years of marriage," he said.

Dana is expected to be released from the hospital Saturday. Cause of death for Betty hasn't been determined, and funeral plans for her are pending.