An Oregon woman who disappeared a week ago was rescued from the bottom of a California coastal cliff where she survived by drinking water from the radiator of her wrecked sports utility vehicle, authorities said on Saturday.
Angela Hernandez, 23, of Portland was found by a pair of hikers on Friday evening after they saw her wrecked Jeep Patriot SUV partially submerged at the bottom of a 200-foot cliff in the Big Sur area, said Monterey County Sheriff’s Office spokesman John Thornburg.
Her disappearance captured widespread attention after she and her vehicle were last seen on a surveillance camera video at a Carmel gas station on July 6, about 50 miles north of the stretch of Highway 1 where she was found.
The hikers discovered Hernandez conscious, breathing and with a shoulder injury, Thornburg said.
Rescuers managed to get her up the cliff and to a helicopter which flew her to a nearby hospital. She was in fair and stable condition but appeared to have suffered a concussion during the collision, the California Highway Patrol said in a statement.
Hernandez told investigators she swerved to avoid hitting an animal on Highway 1 on July 6 and plunged over the cliff north of Nacimiento Fergusson Road.
She stayed alive “by drinking water from the radiator of her vehicle,” according to the Highway Patrol. (Reuters)
