Missing hiker found by helicopter after she spelled ‘SOS’ out with rocks
Mary Gomez flagged down a rescue aircraft by spelling 'SOS' with rocks.
A hiker who spent days missing in one of the US’s most famous national parks was found after she spelled ‘SOS’ with rocks.
Mary Joanna Gomez, a 56-year-old nurse, was rescued by a California Air National Guard aircraft that spotted her message in Sequoia National Park on Monday.
The National Park Service released a statement after Gomez was found, saying she was ‘cold, thirsty and hungry, but otherwise in good health.’
Gomez had gone to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National on October 23 and texted her daughter a photo of the scenery the following day, but never showed up to work on Friday.
Authorities launched a search for Gomez and found her vehicle near the opening of a trial along the Generals Highway on Saturday night, although it had not been parked in that location earlier in the day.
Gomez’s husband and daughter arrived at the park on Sunday to help search teams, which deployed K9 units and a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft.
According to the National Park Service release: ‘A California Air National Guard aircraft C-130 first located an SOS spelled out with rocks on the ground and later identified a person nearby.’
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Gomez was reportedly found in a steep terrain approximately three-and-a-half miles from the nearest trail.
On Monday, Gomez’s daughter Emily expressed her appreciated for rescue team’s effort in a Facebook post, writing: ‘We have Mom. We’re checked into a place to stay tonight. Mom is getting a chance to clean up and relax and we are going to dinner.’
‘Thank you to everyone for your support, prayers, sharing information, and everything else.’
She continued: ‘I cannot even begin to describe how grateful I am to the National Park Service, the CA Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Air Force!!! I also am thankful for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department, SFPD, the media, and everyone who has invested themselves in our family.’