Firefighters pulled a 69-year-old woman from her overturned car Saturday night in Adelanto, Calif. – six days after she first called 911.
According to San Bernardino County Fire Rescue, firefighters responded to a call of an overturned vehicle in a desert area off Torosa Road, north of Adelanto around 6:11 p.m. local time Saturday.
They discovered a red 2007 Hummer that went over a cliff and had flipped over “in an area inaccessible to fire apparatus.” They also discovered the vehicle’s sole inhabitant, Barbara McPheron from Ridgecrest, Calif.
Using rescue struts and an improvised rope system, rescuers were able to pull the women to safety in a delicate rescue effort that took over an hour.
“During the rescue operation it was discovered that the sole occupant of the vehicle, an older adult female, was reported to have been missing for five days,” San Bernardino County Fire Rescue spokesperson Jeff Allen said.
Incredibly, McPheron is reported to have called 911 via the OnStar system in her Hummer on Oct. 23, six days before her rescue.
“A search was conducted around the areas of Stater Bros and Kashmir St which McPheron was not located,” Ridgecrest police said in a statement. “Additionally, a search via air by Kern County Sheriff’s Department was conducted on Highway 395 and a search by China Lake Police Department from Highway 178 to Trona, Ca. was met with negative results of locating McPheron.”
Ridgecrest police say the transponder in McPheron’s OnStar system was not activated, and they were thus unable to trace her location from the 911 call.
McPheron was transferred to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center. She is listed as being in serious condition, but is expected to recover from her injuries.
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