An Alabama woman is now safe and sound after surviving for nearly a month in the wilderness.
25-year-old Lisa Theris had been missing since July 23. On Saturday, she emerged from the Bullock County woods onto Highway 82 and was spotted by a motorist.
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“A motorist from Florida was driving 82 east of Midway and saw something moving in the bushes. She went back and there was the young lady in the wooded area. She called us and told us she had located the missing person,” Sheriff Raymond Rodgers said. “Finally the young lady has been found and she’s alive. Thank God.”
The investigators say that Theris was with two men who burglarized a hunting lodge in the woods. Theris told officers that she didn’t want to be any part of the burglary and managed to escape into the woods.
Theris was exposed to brutal elements day and night while in the wilderness but miraculously managed to stay alive.
“She had been out lost in the woods. She said she was drinking water out of a brook and eating berries and mushrooms,” Rodgers said.
“The bugs had really been on her and she had a lot of scratch marks. We didn’t ask her too many questions. We want to make sure her health is good so we got her on to the hospital. We did not interrogate her at that time.”
Over the course of 28 days in the woods, Theris dropped 50 pounds. Due to her hunger and thirst, she became disoriented in the woods and kept getting turned around when trying to make her way back to safety.
“She’s not familiar with this area and apparently on the night she ran, she went into the woods at night and got lost. I just thank God she’s alive,” the sheriff said.
Theris told the authorities that she was on the move, and trying to do all she could to find a way out and get help.
At this point, the officials did not release other details regarding Theris’ condition or in regards to her connection to the burglars.
“We don’t have the total details on everything yet. We wanted to make sure her health was in the best shape and in the days to come, we’ll get some answers,” said Sgt. Chad Faulkner, the lead investigator on the case.
