Family found after night in car

Three members of an Ontario family who failed to arrive for a wedding in Hinton Saturday morning have been found unharmed, police say.

The 33-year-old man and his two children, ages 10 and 8, were lost in their rental car Saturday afternoon, last making contact by cellphone at 1 p.m.

Already two hours late for the wedding by that time, the older child said they were lost and surrounded by trees. The phone then cut out.

RCMP traced the last ping from the phone to the area of Obed, roughly 30 kilometres east of Hinton.

Police sent out a public alert of a search at 3 a.m. Sunday. RCMP were concerned about the family because the father was on a prescription medication that could cause drowsiness, and the younger child is dependent on insulin.

RCMP issued another notice at 11 a.m. Sunday explaining that the family had been found unharmed.

Const. Jason Curtis said the driver contacted police Sunday morning to report that he was safe.

After getting lost Saturday, he decided to pull over and have a rest. When he woke up, he was disoriented and headed the wrong way. Their cellphone died and the family had to spend the night in their rental car.

On Sunday morning, they managed to flag down another driver and get back on track. They received medical attention in Edson as a precaution and are heading back to Hinton.

“They spent a fairly uncomfortable night in a vehicle, but everyone’s OK,” Curtis said.

Hinton is 288 kilometres west of Edmonton.