Missing California woman found emaciated after 12 days in wilderness amid deadly temperatures

A missing California woman has been found after going missing from a mining campsite 12 days ago.

Esmeralda Marie Pineda went missing on Aug. 25 while she was camping with friends near the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek near Nevada City about 63 miles east of Sacramento . The day before she went missing she had told her friends she wanted to return to Sacramento. The next morning she was nowhere to be found. The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office said that Pineda was emaciated and severely dehydrated when she was found.

“Her friends went searching for her during that day, and couldn’t find any signs whether she had made it out,” Sgt. Dustin Moe of the NCSO said.

• Wisconsin missing toddler heartbreaking update as human remains found 6 months after disappearance

• Tabitha Tuders' family posed as call girl clients to try and find teen missing more than 20 years

By Aug. 28 the sheriff’s office and the search and rescue team shared her missing person’s report on social media asking for anyone with information about the whereabouts of Pineda to contact them. The sheriff said at the time she was last seen at a mining camp near the Yuba River.

Search and rescue teams began looking for Pineda as soon as her friends reported her missing on the morning of Aug. 26. Both officials and volunteers repelled in and out of the canyon in search of Pineda. The treacherous terrain of the area made the search effort very difficult.

A little after noon on Sept.6 Moe and a partner finally spotted Pineda when searching a nearby mountainous area with a side-by-side.

Officials said that the extent of her injuries were not known at the time but they were amazed that she was able to survive in the wilderness for nearly 12 days.

California Highway Patrol and North San Juan Fire Department dispatched a helicopter to the scene at around 1:20 p.m. and airlifted Pineda out of the canyon.

• Family of exotic bulldog breeder and mom-of-four found dead in woods has harsh 7-word warning to cops

• Missing man's family demand answers after decomposing body found in Florida nursing home

“She probably had to scale around an 800 foot vertical foot climb to get up and out of the canyon. And it’s not just a gradual, nice walk up, it’s you’re on your hands and feet climbing up the canyon walls,” Moe said.

Authorities in a news release thanked all those that helped in the search and said that they were grateful that there was a happy ending to the story.

“The Sheriff’s Office and our search and rescue volunteers covered extensive ground throughout our search, and we are thankful today to find her alive,” Moe said.