A Georgia woman was found safe on Wednesday after surviving more than two weeks in California’s remote wilderness, officials said.
Tiffany Slaton, 27, of Jeffersonville, was found “alive and well” in a cabin near Lake Edison in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, according to Tony Botti, a spokesperson for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
Slaton had gone camping alone in the Shaver Lake-Huntington Lake area on April 20. Her family reported her missing on April 29 after not hearing from her for nine days. Her last confirmed sighting was on April 24 at a store in Shaver Lake.
On May 6, officials launched a massive search-and-rescue mission spanning nearly 600 square miles and lasting five days, but found no trace of the missing camper.
Heavy snow prevented crews from making it over Kaiser Pass until Wednesday, when snowplows cleared the road. That’s when the owner of Vermilion Valley Resort made it to his property and found Slaton — two weeks after she was last seen and 25 days after she set out on her trip.
Resort owner Christopher Gutierrez said he was checking on his property when he saw that the door of one of the rental cabins was open.
A woman then appeared in the doorway, “[like a] deer in the headlights,” Gutierrez said during a Wednesday evening news conference.
“She pops out, didn’t say a word, just ran up and all she wanted was a hug,” Gutierrez said. “It was a pretty surreal moment, and that’s when I realized who this was.”
First responders examined Slaton and found she was dehydrated, but appeared to be in good condition. She was later transported to a hospital for further treatment and observation.
Gutierrez said he had left a cabin unlocked as a precaution, in case a person needed shelter to survive the elements and harsh weather. When he found Slaton, she didn’t know how many days she’d been missing, he said.
According to Botti, three weeks is the longest he’s seen someone survive in the wilderness after going missing.
“It’s unheard of,” he said. “It speaks to the tenacity that Tiffany has, that she’s a fighter.”
