FORT MYERS (CBSMiami/AP) — A woman who went missing while hiking in the vast marshland of a Florida state park, was found alive and well on Saturday after an hours long search by numerous rescue agencies.
The various agencies were deployed to the 11,000-acre Estero Bay Preserve State Park on the Gulf Coast south of Fort Myers.
The Iona McGregor Fire District says the woman was out hiking with her husband Friday, but the man had gotten tired and had decided to return while she kept going and got lost.
After hours of searching using drones, a helicopter, ATV’s, and walking search patterns, the woman was found around 10:50 p.m. on Friday night, in one of the deepest, marshiest areas of the preserve. When rescuers found her, she was alert and conscious. However, they weren’t able to get her out of the preserve until 1:30 a.m.
She was taken out by helicopter and rushed to a local hospital to be checked out.
State authorities caution that the trails along coastal marshes in the preserve are rugged and seasonally flooded.
(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)