Slashed Campers Admit Suicide Pact Couple Cut Each Other, Survived

A CALIFORNIA COUPLE CONFESSED WEDNESDAY TO

“They expected to cut each other, go to sleep and wake up dead, but they didn’t wake up dead,” he said.

The couple was identified as Francis Olson, 24, and Jennifer Rund, 22, both of San Francisco. The two initially told police they had amnesia and could not remember their names or how they were gashed across the throat. Authorities used a bank receipt found at the couple’s camp site to trace their identities. They discovered Rund and Olson had been reported missing from California by their parents for several weeks.

Whittaker said it appeared the two drove to Idaho and tried to cross the border into Canada. Rund was stopped by customs agents for drug possession and her car was seized at the border, he said.

The couple apparently then went camping in the Katka Ridge area, about seven miles east of Bonners Ferry. It’s the same area where convicted spy and bank robber Christopher Boyce hid from authorities several years ago.

“For some reason, I don’t know why, that area seems to draw the bizarre,” Whittaker said.

Whittaker said the couple confessed to plotting their own deaths, and sliced each other’s throats Sunday night.

“They didn’t say why they were up here or why they did it. I don’t know if they really know,” said Detective Greg Sprungl, adding that it didn’t appear drugs were involved.

When the couple awoke Monday, they wrapped clothing around their bloody necks and walked about five miles out of the woods until a passer-by took them to a hospital.

“I’m surprised they didn’t bleed to death,” Whittaker said. “It’s amazing we didn’t have two bodies in the woods up there. They are really lucky.”

The wounds required surgery at Bonner General Hospital in Sandpoint. Boundary County authorities believe the couple may be mentally disturbed and are holding them in protective custody.

“Since the wounds were selfinflicted we have determined they are a danger to themselves,” Sprungl said.

The couple will be examined by two physicians and could be committed to a mental facility for treatment. Authorities have also notified the couple’s relatives and could release them to their parents.

Whittaker said he doubts any charges will be filed. That decision must be made by Prosecutor Randy Day.