Missing 68-year-old with dementia found alive in snow-buried SUV, California cops say
Rescue crews tracked down a missing woman on Wednesday nearly a week after she was last seen in Northern California, finding her in a vehicle buried in snow, authorities said.
Paula Beth James, a 68-year-old Oroville woman with dementia, had last been seen on Thursday, Jan. 9, California Highway Patrol said in a Silver Alert shared on Twitter Saturday.
Authorities said James was “believed to be driving a silver, 2018 Toyota 4Runner,” adding that because of her medical conditions she “may become disoriented.”
James was finally found just before noon Wednesday when a helicopter crew searching overhead spotted a vehicle “buried in the snow” that looked like James’ Toyota, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The helicopter landed and two sheriff’s office workers hiked to the SUV — where they discovered James alive, deputies said.
Authorities said rescue crews were en route “to transport her from where the vehicle is at to where paramedics are staging. We have no further information on her condition at this time.”
“It’s wonderful news and this is the outcome that we had all been hoping for,” said Megan McMann, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “Especially with a storm coming in.”
The Butte County Sheriff’s Office shared a video on Twitter Monday showing their helicopter, H1, flying over a snowy landscape in search of James as detectives looked for her on the ground.
CBS13 described Butte Meadows, where James was found, as “a rural community just over 30 miles northeast of Chico.”
KHSL reported before James was found that detectives had “obtained bank statements that show James hasn’t used any cards since before she went missing. After learning this, detectives said they are focusing on the Magalia area where James’ phone last pinged.”
Detectives also said that James sent an out-of-state sister a text message that seemed normal on Friday around 8 a.m., according to the TV station.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Missing 68-year-old with dementia found alive in snow-buried SUV, California cops say."
