California woman found in the wild 12 days after her disappearance

A woman was found in the Northern California wilderness Friday, 12 days after she went missing, authorities said.

Esmeralda Marie Pineda, 24, was found Friday afternoon by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada City, California, atop a canyon near the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek, the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook.

Nevada City is located just over 60 miles north of Sacramento, where Pineda is from.

Pineda was “severely dehydrated and emaciated” when she was found, the sheriff’s office said, adding that she “requires immediate medical attention.”

NBC News affiliate KYMA of Yuma, Arizona, reported that Pineda was suffering from sun exposure.

Officers on scene requested air medical care and the California Highway Patrol responded with a helicopter, the sheriff’s office said. The North San Juan Fire Department also responded to provide medical care.

Less than an hour after she was found, Pineda was airlifted from the canyon and taken to a hospital for treatment. The sheriff’s office said Pineda’s condition and the extent of her injuries were unknown.

“The Sheriff’s Office and our search and rescue volunteers covered considerable ground throughout our search, and we are grateful today to have found her alive,” said NCSO Sergeant Dustin Moe.

Authorities began searching for Pineda on Aug. 26 after she was reported missing from a mining camp near the Middle Fork of the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek, the NCSO said.

Moe told KYMA that Pineda had been camping with three friends in the canyon near the Middle Yuba River on Aug. 25 when she expressed a desire to return to Sacramento.

When the friends woke up the next day, Pineda was gone, KYMA reported.

“So her friends went looking for her that day and found no signs that she had made it out,” Moe told the news station.

The sheriff’s office said the area “was inherently dangerous and required trained volunteers from the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Unit to enter and exit the canyon in search of him.”

Moe told KYMA there is no trail system in the area of ​​Middle Fork where Pineda is located, “so people generally don’t go there.”

Pineda’s discovery at the top of the canyon indicated to rescuers that she had made a steep climb.

“And it’s not just a gradual, enjoyable walk, it’s you climbing on your hands and feet up the canyon walls,” Moe said, according to KYMA.

The outlet reported that Moe and his partner were the ones who found Pineda.

“She was able to lift her head up and wave at us,” Moe said.

Moe told the station he didn’t know how Pineda was able to survive nearly two weeks alone in the wilderness.

“Who knows? Maybe she had a good survival instinct,” he said. “She was lucky and managed to survive those 12 days.”