An Edgefield County woman missing since, Saturday, June 11, was found alive and unharmed Wednesday morning, June 15.  According to an Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office report on the incident, the ECSO was called to a residence on Turkey Ridge Court Tuesday afternoon, June 14, by a male wishing to report his live-in girlfriend as missing.  The man told law enforcement that he had not seen the woman for two days.  He stated that on Saturday evening he went to bed around 8:00 p.m. and that when he awoke Sunday morning his girlfriend was gone.  The man said that he initially thought the woman was with her son who lives in Aiken County, but when he spoke to the son on Saturday, the son said that he had not seen his mother in two weeks.  When questioned as to why he waited two days to report the woman, who suffers from diabetes, missing, the man replied that he thought he had to wait twenty-four hours before he could do so.  He did, however, tell law enforcement that he had been searching the woods nearby his house for the woman as she sometimes walks in the woods looking for pine cones.  He said he found no sign of her in the woods, though.

As the ECSO began to search for the woman, they were made aware that a neighbor had seen her earlier in the day on Tuesday.  According to the neighbor’s statement, at the time she saw the woman, she did not know that she was missing.  The neighbor described the missing woman as struggling to walk down the road towards her residence.  She was said to be wearing dark clothing and carrying a white t-shirt.  The neighbor further stated that the woman appeared to be wet and had mud on her.

The ECSO initiated a search of the area surrounding the woman’s residence Tuesday night.  Merriwether Fire Department and SLED provided assistance with the search.  A SLED helicopter with heat seeking capabilities also searched the area.  However, finding no trace of the missing woman, the search was called off around 4 a.m.  The ECSO resumed the search Wednesday morning after day light.  Around 11:00 a.m., they located the woman in a thicket near her home.  She was reported to have been dehydrated but in good spirits.  She advised law enforcement that she had gotten lost while walking in the woods.  The woman was transported by EMS to a local hospital to be assessed for any injuries.