Missing 24-year-old woman mysteriously found ‘severely dehydrated’ in wilderness 12 days after vanishing
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Nevada County Sheriff’s Office / Penny Collins/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A woman in California has finally been found after nearly two weeks alone in the wilderness, which has left her ‘emaciated’.
Esmeralda Marie Pineda was initially reported missing to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office on 26 August, after having been on a camping trip with friends.
According to KYMA-DT, on 25 August she spoke to her pals and told them how she wanted to leave and return to her home in Sacramento, and vanished the very next day.
Having been hiking near the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek Nevada City, which is around 60 miles from her hometown, nobody could have expected where she would end up 12 days later.
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NCSO Sgt. Dustin Moe explained to the outlet that she was reported missing the same day her friends realised she had gone.
He explained: "Her friends went searching for her during that day, and couldn't find any signs whether she had made it out.”
A couple days later on 28 August, the sheriff’s office and the Sheriff's Search & Rescue team shared missing person posters online, asking for people to come forward with any information they had.
By this time, they knew that Pineda had been spotted on 26 August in the middle fork of the area. However, she hadn’t been seen since.
On Friday 6 September, at approximately 12:40pm, Moe and another officer were in an off-roading vehicle razor when they spotted the 24-year-old by a nearby mountain area.
According to the authorities, when they arrived she was ‘severely dehydrated and emaciated’, having been alone for 12 days in a terrain which was ‘treacherous in nature’.
However, at the moment, the ‘extent of her condition and injuries is unknown.’
California Highway Patrol and the North San Juan Fire Department arrived at the scene by helicopter at approximately 1:20pm and Pineda was airlifted off the canyon.
The Sherrif’s office shared in a Facebook post: “She required immediate medical attention. The deputies radioed for life flight and the California Highway Patrol responded with their helicopter; North San Juan Fire Department firefighters also responded for medical.”
"Pineda was airlifted off the canyon by 1:20 p.m. and was transported to a hospital for treatment. The extent of her condition and injuries is unknown.”
Moe shared to KYMA that the middle fork area where Pineda had been, was a terrible place to trail, as there were accessible trails.
He said: "She probably had to scale around an 800-foot vertical foot climb to get up out of the canyon. And it's not just a gradual, nice walk up, it's you’re on your hands and feet climbing up the canyon walls.”
When he was asked how he thinks Pineda could have survived for 12 days in that terrain, he said: “Who knows? I mean, maybe she had good survival instincts. She had luck behind her and she managed to pull through those 12 days.”
After finding her, Moe had a message for the volunteers who scoured the area as best as they could.
He said: "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."
Tyla reached out to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office for comment.