Missing California woman with dementia found alive in snowbound SUV after 6 days

BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. — Six days of intensive searching for a missing California woman who suffers from dementia ended Wednesday with her joyous rescue from a snowbound SUV.

According to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, a helicopter spotted the Toyota 4Runner Paula Beth James, 68, had been driving before she vanished. The vehicle was buried in snow.

“She was awake and conscious. And she looked at them, and she said, ‘I’m very cold, I hope you brought a blanket,’” Laura Powell, James’ stepdaughter, told KTXL.

James was last seen on the evening of Jan. 9 in Oroville, Calif., prompting the Butte County Sheriff’s Office to issue a “silver alert,” The Washington Post reported.

Her family told KTXL James stayed warm by covering herself in floor mats and running the vehicle’s heat occasionally but still developed frostbite and was dehydrated when she was located.

The search for James employed the use of helicopters, snowmobiles and other methods over the course of roughly 100 hours, the Post reported.

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