KLAS-TV Channel 8 News Las VegasPolice Skeptical of Woman's Survival Story

Police Skeptical of Woman's Survival Story

(May 8) -- Christine Asleson went searching for a lost dog in the Red Rock area on Sunday. But amidst the hugs and smiles, surrounding her recovery Friday, came serious questions from police.

Rescue crews and volunteers blanketed Red Rock Canyon looking for Asleson. Metro says she should have been found -- if she was in the Red Rock area. Police are highly suspicious of Asleson. Now they are trying to determine if this missing woman was ever really missing in the first place.

Jason Caudill, Asleson's son, said, "She said she was eating some flowers. I could tell she was eating something nasty up there because she had a black tongue -- a completely black tongue."

Caudill says his mother did everything she could to stay alive: "She had to do what she had to do. So apparently, she had a little medicine thing with her and she used that to save her urine and drink it."

For days, rescue helicopters and ground crews scoured the Red Rock terrain, even using hi-tech infrared cameras to look for signs of life.

Sergeant Clint Bassett, with Metro Search & Rescue: "We worked really, really hard and we're really glad that we know that if somebody had been there, we would have found them."

Metro Search & Rescue's Sgt. Bassett is highly skeptical of Asleson's survival story: "Reports from the hospital that her physical condition is not conducive with somebody that's been in the wilderness for a great deal of time, throws high suspect in the credibility of her story."

Bassett believes Asleson was in simply too good of shape for someone missing for five days: "I had searchers in worse shape that had been out in there, just walking around for three hours, than she was after six days with no water."

Outside UMC Friday, Asleson was singing in the ambulance. Christine Asleson: "Ain't no mountain high enough..."

Jason Caudill said, "My mom's not the type of person who would do something like this."

Caudill strongly defends his mother saying she was legitimately lost -- and this was not a hoax: "It makes it seem like everything that just happened for the past five days was all in vain and for no reason."

A metro detective interviewed Asleson Friday in order to piece together her story, where she was on the mountain and how she was able to survive.