Every time this quest comes up for me and it has come up many times (I've played this game for over 2300 hrs.) I never get to complete it since it comes up "complete" on the screen before I even get a chance to rescue my husband. He is back on the property and the quest is over. I think I can safely say it is bugged for xbox 360 Bonnie blue-blade (talk) 00:08, January 18, 2013 (UTC)
I had the same issue my first time through. It became complete as soon as I travelled to Whiterun, before I even started heading for Rochelle. On my second time through, Rochelle and a group of bandits showed up at my house (presumably to kidnap Lydia), but were actually killed BY Lrdia and my housecarl. So I have to agree, buggy quest. 24.3.230.131 01:30, February 13, 2013 (UTC)
Okay, this quest came up again and this time it worked...do not kill the bandit that shows up. I've been forced to kill them because they attack my horse or because...well, I like killing bandits. This time I reloaded and walked onto the property from Pinewatch. She gave me the note and this time...I let her live. I fast travelled to an area near Knifepoint Ridge (which is where they have my hubby)...the first time some of the bandits were aggressive ... some weren't. I went in and rescued my hubby after killing the bandit chief (not Rochelle the Red). When I came back out ... they were still non- aggressive and even Rochelle the Red was out there. I killed them all and decided I would redo it since I didn't talk to her first. This time it worked out like it was supposed to. Rochelle was waiting for me and you have a number of conversation choices to pick from...I chose to kill her and all of her buddies...then went in and got my hubby. (this is for the x-box as stated in my first comment)
oops...forgot the four tildes for the above comment Bonnie blue-blade (talk) 05:08, February 26, 2013 (UTC)
Oh goodness. I finally found mention of this glitch. It's unlikely that it's been fixed in 1.9 (because Bethesda sometimes ends up doing more harm than good with patches, i.e. backwards-flying dragons), but next time I'll take Bonnie Blue-Blade's advice and NOT kill the bandit that delivers the message. My spouse is stuck in the wierd backwards-walking state and my character is unwilling to move on. I always took her with me on quests, because there's no point in a stay-at-home wife in TES. I don't play on PC, so any suggestions for a potential "fix"? I thought about killing her and using Dead Thrall to ressurect her, but that would just mean she's a zombie and would not act like a normal NPC. (PearPecker (talk) 01:08, May 14, 2013 (UTC))