A California woman who went missing from a campground last month was found alive, but “severely dehydrated and emaciated,” the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Esmeralda Marie Pineda, 24, disappeared from a mining camp in a remote area of Nevada City, which is 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, on Aug. 26.
A search was started immediately. The area was “treacherous,” requiring search and rescue “volunteers to repel into and out of the canyon to look for her,” the sheriff’s office said. The search included using an off-road vehicle for more mountainous areas.
She was found on Friday, nearly two weeks later, on top of the river canyon, not far from where she went missing 12 days earlier.
Pineda, who hails from Sacramento, was airlifted from the canyon and received treatment at a hospital. Officials did not know the extent of her injuries.
“The Sheriff’s Office and our search and rescue volunteers covered extensive ground throughout our search, and we are thankful today to find her alive,” said Sgt. Dustin Moe, who along with his partner found Pineda.
Moe said officials hadn’t been able to talk to Pineda since they found her, so they didn’t know how she survived for nearly two weeks, KCRA reported.
“Who knows? I mean, maybe she had good survival instincts,” Moe said.
