Missed turn leads to mountain tragedy

GLOBE, Ariz. (KRQE) - An Albuquerque couple's Thanksgiving holiday turned deadly when an unplanned detour left them stranded for five cold and snowy days in Arizona mountains.

Elizabeth "Betty" Davis, 82, died Tuesday when she collapsed as the couple tried to walk to U.S. Highway 60 northeast of Globe.

After he was unable to revive his wife, Dana Davis, 86, continued walking, spent the night under a tree, and was rescued the next morning by a state game officer who found him disoriented and walking along the forest road.

He was taken to a hospital in Globe where late Wednesday he was reported to be in remarkably good condition given the ordeal he endured.

He is expected to be released on Thursday.

"He layered his clothing, and he had a winter coat," Dr. Lawrence Pollack of Cobre Valley Medical Center said. "He kept warm enough, apparently, because he wasn't in hypothermia."

The couple had spent the Thanksgiving holiday in the Phoenix area and left the southeast suburb of Chandler on Thursday intending to drive U.S. 60 back to New Mexico.

Instead they missed the turn in Globe and found themselves on U.S. 70 angling toward southern New Mexico.

Instead of backtracking, they plunged into the rugged forest on a road their map showed would take them to U.S. 60, Chandler police quoted Dana Davis as saying.

"It's just a really remote, rough area out there," Lt. Mike Johnson of the Gila County Sheriff's Department said. "Their vehicle, after they turned off the highway, wound up puncturing its transmission on a rock therefore becoming disabled."

As they couple waited in their car two winter storms blew through and temperatures dropped.

After running out of gas, they struck out on foot hoping to find the highway, according to Chandler police.

They had not gone far when Elizabeth Davis collapsed and died.

After Dana Davis was rescued, Civil Air Patrol searchers spotted the disabled car, and sheriff's deputies soon located his wife's body.

Friends of the Davises in Albuquerque described Betty as a 'Bulldog' telling News 13 she was both compassionate and firm.

"Our hearts are broken at the loss of Betty, and at the same time we celebrate that Dana is safe," said Katharina Root, a family friend.

The couple was reported missing Tuesday when they failed to returned to Albuquerque on schedule. They had told friends of their planned route, but also said they planned to set aside time to visit the Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge south of Socorro.