Friends of a B.C. couple that disappeared on a road trip to Las Vegas have arrived in Oregon to help police in their investigation.
Al and Rita Chretien left Penticton in their Chevy Astro van on March 19 to head to a Las Vegas trade show. They were reported missing last week by their children after they failed to return home.
They were least seen on surveillance video when they stopped at the Jacksons convenience store and gas station in Baker City, Oregon on the day they left home. Eight friends arrived in the area Tuesday to help scour local highways for signs of the couple.
Baker City police have received a tip suggesting the couple's visit may have been more than a pit stop, and they might have visited a local business to ask about tourism opportunities in the area.
"They were provided some areas in our region that they could potentially take a look at, and from there the Chretiens left the store and went on their way," Police Chief Wyn Lohner told CTV News.
In all, police have received more than 75 tips about the missing pair.
The couple's credit and bank cards haven't been used since they left the convenience store in Baker City, and the leading theory is that their Chevrolet Astro van left one of the remote winding highways as the Chretiens made their way south toward Nevada.
"The highway 7 route to 395 is over mountainous terrain -- very little traffic and very few people that live in those areas -- so potentially that could occur," Lohner said.
The Chretiens' story is getting attention in Baker City media, and locals say they're aware of the missing couple.
"I noticed it last night in the newspaper. There was an article that had a picture of them. It had fairly decent coverage," Baker City resident Pat Bruner said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Kent Molgat
