A confused elderly woman missing since Wednesday was found hungry and thirsty in a field by a Yuba County sheriff's sergeant.
The woman, 77-year-old Kathryn Daniel, was taken to Rideout Memorial Hospital in Marysville where she was with family on Saturday.
She was found about 10:30 p.m. Friday by Sgt. Bill Siler, who spotted Daniel's car with three flat tires near a field not far from her home in Olivehurst.
She left for church in Olivehurst on Wednesday in her red 1995 Pontiac Bonneville.
Sgt. Wencel Kemp said that although the woman had been missing since Wednesday, the Sheriff's Department received the missing person's call Friday. It is unconfirmed, but Kemp said it is thought that she was possibly spotted at a cemetery visiting a son's grave Friday afternoon.
"She just got really confused, got flat tires, started to walk home, stumbled in the uneven terrain and laid down in the night," said Kemp.
It appears that she had been in her car – confused and unable to find her way home – until Friday night, Kemp said.
"She is still in the hospital, but they are trying to make sure the exposure she did have did not have any ill effects on her," Kemp said.
A full search-and-rescue effort had been scheduled Saturday to look for Daniel.
"But, fortunately, Sergeant Siler found her," said Kemp. "He was out looking for possible locations close to where she lives. He saw a burgundy Bonneville in a dirt area. Then, he found her a couple of hundred yards from the car on the ground."
Siler called out her name, and Daniel opened her eyes. The deputy then told her that help was at hand and called an ambulance.
"This was a good ending," said Kemp. "She was supposed to return Wednesday, and here it was Friday. She said she was hungry and thirsty. The poor woman."
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.
