A 50-year-old woman who was reported missing during a hike in the backcountry for almost two days is back with her family after she was rescued Sunday by sheriff's volunteers and a sheriff's helicopter, authorities said.
The woman's family told deputies on Saturday afternoon they had not heard from her since she sent a text around 8:30 a.m. Friday that she was about to start hiking near the Lake Morena campground in Campo, the San Diego Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
San Diego Parks and Recreation personnel told deputies she missed her checkout time at her cabin near Lake Morena and her belonging were still in the cabin.
The search for the woman began with about 30 Sheriff's Search and Rescue Unit volunteers and a sheriff's helicopter, the statement said. The U.S. Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue Unit deployed two team members with a search and rescue dog to engage in the search.
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A woman's shoe prints thought to be the missing woman's were discovered on a trail on Saturday evening by the sheriff's search and rescue volunteers. The woman was found Sunday before 5 a.m. in a steep, rocky area almost 10 miles from where her vehicle was parked, the sheriff's statement said.
The woman was said by volunteers to be exhausted but in good condition. The volunteers stayed with the woman until a sheriff's helicopter could hoist her around 8 a.m. She was airlifted to the Lake Morena campground and was treated by a medical team and then reunited with her family.
