Utah officials found a missing woman this weekend, nearly six months after she went missing in a national forest.
Utah officials manage to track down woman who had been missing for more than 5 months
The 47-year-old woman was found in a tent where she was living while feeding on grass and moss, according to a news release Monday from the Utah County Sheriffs office.
Officials first became aware the woman is missing Nov. 25, when they learned her car was parked the Diamond Fork area of Spanish Fork Canyon while a road was being closed for the winter.
Officials conducted an initial ground and air search, but could not find a sign of the woman. Thinking the woman may have left the car behind, they impounded it.
In the months that followed, officials tried to recognize and contact the woman’s relatives, without success.
They were able to contact former colleagues who had no information on her whereabouts.
Then, on Sunday, a sheriff’s sergeant returned to the area with representatives from a nonprofit aerial search organization.
Using a drone that crashed on the first pass, while climbing the hill to rescue the device, the sergeant and the drone pilot stumbled upon the woman in a small tent.
“We had hoped we wouldn’t encounter anyone related to the disappearance up here, because of the time that had passed.” said the sergeant.
“In situations like this we often find someone after they’ve died, we were quite relieved and glad she was still alive.”
The woman had lost a lot of weight and was weak, but the press release said she appeared to be “resourceful”
“Due to the woman’s condition and the information in their discussion with her, members took her to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation,” the sheriff’s explanation said.
They said the woman could choose to return to the same area and that they would make resources available to her “if she chooses to utilize them.”
“Hats off to her as a survivor,” Cannon told Fox 13.
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