Officials marvel at woman’s survival

A68-year-old Fullerton woman remains hospitalised as San Diego County law enforcement personnel continue to marvel at how she survived for two weeks in her disabled car on fruit, pie slices and rainwater.

Dianna Bedwell was found on Sunday afternoon in a remote area of northeastern San Diego County in the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation after going missing on Mother’s Day.

Her husband, Cecil “Paul” Knutson, died.

Their car had become stuck in the soft dirt of a backcountry path.

“That she survived is nothing short of a miracle,” said sheriff’s Lt. Ken Nelson.

“Even for someone fit and in good health, surviving this long would be difficult. She is elderly and with health problems and yet she made it.”

Lost and disoriented

Dehydrated and lapsing in and out of consciousness, Bedwell was airlifted to a hospital in Escondido. She was able to talk long enough to give investigators a clue about how she and her husband went missing. She also talked briefly on the phone to relatives.

The couple — both retired bus drivers — had spent the morning and early afternoon of May 10 at a casino in Valley Centre. They left about 2pm to go to their son’s home in La Quinta in Riverside County for dinner.

They apparently tried to find a shortcut to their son’s home to avoid the traffic on Interstate 15. Instead they may have gotten lost and disoriented.

Days of searching in the air and on the ground had been unsuccessful in spotting the couple’s 2014 Hyundai Sonata.

When members of the Los Coyotes Police Department arrived, Bedwell praised her husband for his efforts to help her survive, although she appeared unaware that he had died. Officials have decided to let her family break the tragic news to her.