'It's a miracle she's alive': Woman missing for 12 days found emaciated in remote California canyon

A Sacramento woman who was missing for 12 days was found last week "severely dehydrated and emaciated," according to police.

Deputies from the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office found Esmeralda Pineda, 24, on Sept. 6, after she went missing on Aug. 26 from a mining claim camp she'd gone to visit with three other friends in Nevada City, California, according to a press release from the sheriff's office. 

"It's a miracle she's alive and we're grateful that our team was able to find her in time," said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office's. Pineda is still in the hospital, but is "doing much better and on the mend overall, given the circumstances."

After she was found, Pineda was airlifted to a hospital for treatment, and was in stable condition, as of Monday afternoon, Quadros told USA TODAY

Where was Pineda found?

On Friday, at 12:41 p.m. local time, Pineda was found on top of a canyon near the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek in Nevada City, about 73 miles northeast of Sacramento, according to police.

Pineda needed immediate medical attention and was airlifted from the canyon by 1:20 p.m. and taken to a hospital, authorities said. The North San Juan Fire Department also responded to the call to provide medical assistance.

When she went missing, authorities believed she might have been trying to return to the Sacramento region.

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She went missing in a 'treacherous' area

The search for Pineda began the same day she went missing in what police said was an area "treacherous in nature."

After she arrived with her friends to the mining camp, Pineda had said she wanted to leave and go back to Sacramento. The next morning, she left in what police believed was an attempt to walk back to the city.

"She seemed confident that she could find her way out of [the] Canyon, and when she realized she was lost, she attempted to go back to her friends and couldn't find them," said Quadros.

Police are not sure how Pineda was able to survive.

She survived "off the land, as far as we know," said Quadros. But, police have not been able to interview her since she is still recovering.

Searched in a wide area

The woman's friend attempted to take police back to where the campsite was, but could never successfully find it, according to Quadros. Giving police a wide area to search and making it more challenging to locate her.

The Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers were required to "rappel into and out of the canyon to look for her."

“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,” said NCSO Sergeant Dustin Moe in a statement.

When she was found, two deputies were searching the more mountainous parts of the area to look for her.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Woman, 24, missing for 12 days found alive in remote California canyon