A hiker who went missing for weeks during a solo camping trip in the California wilderness has been found safely, after she became trapped in a blizzard and took refuge in an empty lakeside cabin.
Tiffany Slaton of Jeffersonville, Georgia, was found near a lake in Fresno county, California, after the owner of Vermilion Valley Resort, a lodging site between Yosemite and Kings Canyon national parks, was checking on his property and noticed that one of his cabins was occupied by a woman, according to the Fresno county sheriff’s office.
He recognized that she matched the description of a missing person and knew that a search was ongoing. The owner then reported the woman to the county’s sheriff office, who later confirmed her identity.
A medical examination determined that while Slaton was dehydrated, she was otherwise in good condition. Medics transported her to a hospital for further treatment and observation. The detective in charge of the case immediately notified Slaton’s parents in Georgia with the good news.
“I can’t wait to see and hug her,” her mother, Fredrina Slaton, told ABC30. “We talk to Tiffany all the time, and to know that I couldn’t talk to her for Mother’s Day – it was really hard.”
Slaton had embarked on a solo camping trip through the Sierra Nevada, and her family had reported her missing on 29 April after not having heard from her for nine days. The sheriff’s office launched a search and distributed public alerts to raise awareness.
Investigators confirmed that Slaton was seen at Huntington Lake on 20 April and near the old Cressman’s General Store on 24 April. After that, there were no confirmed sightings.
Between 6 and 10 May, the sheriff’s search and rescue team conducted a full-scale operation in the mountains to search for Slaton. The search covered an area of nearly 600 sq miles in the remote eastern Sierra Nevada.
However, the rescue team had been unable to search the location where Slaton was eventually found, known as Lake Edison, due to heavy amounts of snow. Snowplows cleared the road to the lake on Wednesday, which helped the resort owner reach his property and start preparations to open for the summer.
The owner told authorities that he had left a cabin unlocked as a precaution in case a lost person needed shelter to survive the harsh outdoor conditions.
“She pops out, didn’t say a word, just ran up, and all she wanted was a hug,” Christopher Gutierrez, the owner of the resort, told ABC30. “From what she told us, there was a blizzard, and she pushed through that blizzard. The first thing she saw was a cabin, and she held up in the cabin through the night.”
She survived solely on leeks, Slaton told Gutierrez.
Officials said they plan to meet with Slaton to learn more about what happened and to better understand her experience during the time she was missing.
