46 | March• 2019
MISSING: DOG WALKER, 56, FEMALE
because she was able to stand up and
carefully climb back onto firm terrain.
LookingaroundpastRoxyand
Chloe,unleashedatherside,Poitras
realised that Bubba had bolted. She
didn’t know what time it was or how
longshe’dbeenknockedout.Butshe
knewsheneededtofindthatpuggle
beforeshecouldgetoffthemoun-
tain.Sheadoredthedogs–leaving
one behind was unthinkable.THE MORNING OF MONDAY,
November 20, 2017, had started out
like any other on the quiet cul-de-sac
where Poitras, her husband, Marcel,
and their 20-year-old daughter,
Gabrielle, lived in Coquitlam, British
Columbia, Canada.
Itwasanunseasonablycoolday,
andtheyknewtoanticipatea‘Pine-
appleExpress’–aPacificstorm
blowinginfromaroundHawaiithat
brings so much rainfall meteor-
ologists call them atmospheric rivers.
The family had lived in Coquitlam
fordecades,Poitrasemployedasa
cashieratalocalgrocerystoreand
Marcel in IT. Poitras had retired a
couple of years earlier and started a
dog-walking business.
Around noon, she loaded Rox y,
Chloe and Bubba into the car. She
called out, “Have a good afternoon!”
toMarcelandclosedthefrontdoor
behind her. Before long, she pulled
upatacarparkoffthesideofahydro
access road on Eagle Mountain,
which was zigzagged by informalWHEN ANNETTE POITRAScame
to,windedanddazed,twosetsof
canineeyeswerepeeringbackinto
hers.Momentsbefore–orwasit
hours? – the professional dog-walker
hadbeenworkingherwayalong
afamiliargraveltrailthatsnakes
acrossEagleMountain,aten-minute
drive from her home.
Shehadthreechargeswithher:
R o x y (a b o x e r), B u bb a (a 13 -y e a r- old
puggle) and Chloe (her own black-
and-white border collie). When the
quartet came across a fallen tree –
itstrunk,thickasabarrel,stretch-
ingoveranexpanseofsoggymossa
metrebelow–Poitrasclamberedup
tocrossoverit.Thatmorning,aftera
walkintherain,shehadexchanged
hersoakedhikingbootsforgum-
boots. As she trod on the slick wood,
she’dslipped,slammingintothelog.
Hittingherheadonthewaydown,
Poitrashadplummetedtotheforest
floor below.
Now, as she lay on the ground, pain
shot from her left armpit all the way
down to her calf and she wondered,
dizzily, if she’d cracked a rib. She
hadn’t broken her back, she figured,