By Christopher Weber
LOS Angeles (AP) – When the Vermilion Valley Resort in the eastern Sierra of California closed its doors for the winter, the staff left room doors unlocked just in case a capricious hiker needs a shelter during the frequent mountain snow storms. This decision may have saved the life of Tiffany Slaton, the 27-year-old Georgia woman who disappeared for almost three weeks in the distant nature.
The owner Christopher GUTIERREZ spotted a cabin door ajar and a pair of shoes nearby when he arrived on Wednesday morning to start reopen the complex for spring. Suddenly, a young woman appeared in the door.
“She comes out, did not say a word, just run and whatever she wanted was a hug,” said Gutierrez at a press conference on Wednesday evening. “It was a fairly surreal moment, and that’s where I realized that it was.”
It was Slaton, whose parents had reported his disappearance on April 29 after not having heard of her for more than a week. The Sheriff’s Bureau of the County of Fresno launched a search, and the deputies and volunteers have traveled more than 600 squares in the National Forest of Sierra, without luck. The researchers were hampered by heavy snow blocking many roads.
On Monday, the sheriff’s office announced that it reduced the research effort. Two days later, she left the cabin.
Gutierrez gave Slaton a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and called the authorities, who brought him to the hospital for evaluation. She was hungry and dehydrated, but if not in good condition, said sheriff officials.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Tony Botti said it was the longest period of time that he saw someone missing in the desert and surviving.
“Three weeks is unknown,” he said. “It talks about the tenacity that Tiffany has, that she is a fighter.”
Thanks to the public councils, the investigators determined that Slaton had been spotted around April 20 near Lake Huntington, more than 20 miles in the southwest through uneven land. But the authorities did not provide details on the moment or when the Slaton trek started, what its plans were and on the path it took to find itself at the Vermilion Valley Resort, which is in Sierra Nevada halfway between Yosemite and Sequoia / Kings Canyon National Parks.
Botti said that sheriff managers planned to interview Slaton to learn the details of her experience, and how she survived icy conditions with altitudes exceeding 6,500 feet.
Through the country in Jeffersonville, Georgia, his parents were shopping when they learned that their daughter had been found.
“I just caught someone and I said,” Can I kiss you? ” And I did it, ”said his mother, Fredrina Slaton. “I was crying and that I would have embraced myself.”
Tiffany’s father Bobby Slaton said: “A ton of weight was lifted”. He thanked the research and rescue team and all the members of the community who helped find her.
Sheriff managers said the snowfield had erased a key mountain key earlier Wednesday, allowing Gutierrez to access the seaside resort on Lake Edison for the first time this year. Gutierrez said that he had to spend about an hour and a half to break the ice before being able to get into the property.
Slaton’s parents said Tiffany had been raised with a love of outdoors, and they have always stressed the importance of being able to fend for yourself in a difficult situation.
“So, it is good to know, as parents, that all the things we have taught, she did,” said her mother. “We believe life is an adventure.”
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
