Nellie Obendorf; Survived 13-Day Ordeal Trapped in a Snowdrift

A woman whose trip with her husband to visit her sister turned into a nightmarish odyssey that included 13 days trapped in a snowdrift, has died in her sleep.

Nellie Obendorf was 65 and died Saturday at a nursing home here where her husband was taken after his feet were amputated as a result of their ordeal.

Nellie and Orville Obendorf, 71, a retired farmer, made headlines in April when the story emerged of their trials during a trip to see Mrs. Obendorf’s sister in Kansas.

A week after they set out from this small Idaho town, their car was stuck in a ditch after she made a wrong turn in a blinding snowstorm.

The blizzard covered them with snow and they huddled together under a blanket and rationed Girl Scout cookies and diet soda.

They finally were discovered by a farmer plowing the road and were hospitalized for four days in the Norton County Hospital in northwestern Kansas, where Obendorf was treated for frostbite.

But instead of giving up the trip, they continued on toward Iola, Kan., when another wrong turn sent them west toward Colorado for three days, and then they backtracked eastward as Obendorf’s condition deteriorated.

By the time the couple were spotted in Quinter, Kan., less than an hour from where they originally had been hospitalized, Obendorf was unable to walk. He was flown back to Idaho on April 13 and his feet were amputated.

Mrs. Obendorf followed on April 24 after finally completing her visit. However, she returned home to find that burglars had struck during their well-publicized absence. All her jewelry and other items were stolen.

Mrs. Obendorf, a diabetic who had undergone two cancer operations in the last four years, joined her husband in the nursing home last week while he waited to see if his legs would heal enough to allow his transfer to a rehabilitation hospital and a fitting for prosthetic feet.

Mrs. Obendorf said she and her husband prayed and tried to keep their spirits up during the time they were trapped in the car.

“You can’t give up,” she said. “But some days, we got awful low. You relive your life, and we had a few squabbles over the blanket.”