A woman who was found naked in a drain almost three weeks after she was reported missing claims she survived by drinking ginger ale.
Lyndsey Kennedy was pulled out of the hole after members of the public heard her shouting from the pavement in Delray Beach, Florida on Tuesday.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and managed to pull her up eight feet out of the storm drain.
When asked how she had survived in the sewer system since March 3, when she was reported missing, the 43-year-old said she had been drinking ginger ale, WBPF reported.
Ms Kennedy said she found a bottle of the drink down in the labyrinth-like tunnel system.
Where she had been since 6.30am on March 3, when her missing persons report was filed, until Tuesday remains something of a mystery.
Ms Kennedy told detectives she’d gone swimming in a canal near her boyfriend’s home, only to find a doorway which led to a tunnel.
She followed it through for a long time she said, until she ended up in the storm drain.
A police report contains her claims that she was walking around the sewer system for about three weeks before she saw some light and yelled for help.
Officers said she seemed “very lucid” and did not meet the criteria to be hospitalized under Florida’s Baker Act.
However, police have said the storm drain she was found in does not connect to the sewage system.
Investigators have been looking at a canal system near to a golf course by Ms Kennedy's boyfriend's home.
On Tuesday a passer-by heard shouting from within the drain and called for help.
Delray Beach Fire’s Special Operations Team arrived and was able to remove the storm grate, lower down a ladder and hoist Ms Kennedy up.
“A passerby heard something coming from the storm drain,” said Dani Moschella, of Delray Beach Fire Rescue.
“She heard a woman yelling. They did in fact, to their surprise, find a woman stuck in that storm drain."
Ms Kennedy, who was found naked and covered in dirt, is recovering in hospital.
“She was unable to stand up,” Moschella said. “She didn’t have any clothes on. She was very dirty. She had some superficial wounds. Her knees were all scraped up.
“To think of a person down there for any amount of time, it is terrifying."
According to Local10 reported, Delray Beach Police Department Public Information Officer Ted White added: “This was by far one of the most bizarre incidents that our officers have responded to."
Ms Kennedy's mother told police her daughter has a history of mental illness and is a frequent user of illegal narcotics, according to the police report.
“She also stated that Kennedy has a history of doing odd things and making bad decisions when she is high on drugs,” the report stated.
Delray Beach Police spokesman Ted White on Tuesday said the initial investigation showed no signs of foul play.
"It doesn't feel like she was taken against her will. It appears this was done by her own free will," he said.
