GONZALES COUNTY, Texas — A Houston woman is safe and with family after she was rescued from the woods in Gonzales County outside San Antonio Monday morning. She went missing nearly a week ago.
Authorities call the woman a tough lady to have been able to make it through what she did. Sheriff Keith Schmidt said his team helped rescue her in a wooded area Tuesday morning.
His deputies got a call about a possible abandoned vehicle Monday night parked off Highway 97 just south of I-10. That's about two hours west of Houston. The deputies ran the plates and realized the car belonged to the missing woman.
But she wasn't in the car, and authorities didn't see any sign of her, so they began searching, bringing in drones and dogs.
Soon after, a witness came forward saying they believe they'd seen her the night before alone in the brush. There was immediate concern about her possibly being out in the elements for an entire day, so the search picked up again.
A Texas DPS sergeant helping in the search found her in the woods disoriented and tired but alive.
"We could have easily not found her that night and she could have been out there till the next morning until we were walking the property, and if she would have walked what, you know, two miles off of this property, I never would have found her," Scmidt said. "I mean, it was just, it was God's will that we found her, in my opinion because of that, I don't know what else you'd call it. What I would say is she's a tough lady."
Sheriff Schmidt said they got the woman to the hospital and contacted her family. She was checked out and is expected to be ok.
He said this is a reminder how hard it can be to help keep older family members feeling independent and safe. He said if you have an older relative who still drives, but are worried about them, you should check in with the regularly about their plans. And consider asking them to turn on location tracking on their phones. Or even ask if you can put a tracker in their car for their safety.