Missing California woman found by authorities

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Deputies have found a Sacramento woman who disappeared from Nevada County mining claim camp last month.

According to the Nevada County Sheriff's Office (NCSO), Esmeralda Marie Pineda was found suffering from sun exposure and airlifted to a hospital for treatment.

Authorities found Pineda, 24, near the area in Eastern Nevada County after she had been missing for 12 days.

"Just happy, estatic, amazed that she was still alive," said Sgt. Dustin Moe with NCSO.

Sgt. Moe and his partner were the ones to find her.

"She was able to pick her head up and kind of wave at us," Moe shared.

Moe says Pineda had been camping down in the canyon by the Middle Yuba River with three of her friends. The night of August 25, her friends say she mentioned wanting to go back to Sacramento. The morning of the 26, her friends say when they woke up, she was gone.

"So, her friends went searching for her during that day, and couldn't find any signs whether she had made it out," Moe remarked.

12 days of search and rescue efforts through treacherous terrain spared no expense, from rope systems to get down to the river dogs trailing her scent and aircrafts using infared cameras looking for Pineda.

"But the area on the Middle Fork, where she was, there's not trail systems, so people just generally don't go down there," Moe added.

On Friday, Moe says they found her at the top of the canyon, meaning she made a big climb.

"She probably had to scale around an 800 foot vertical foot climb to get up out of the canyon. And it's not just a gradual, nice walk up, it's your on your hands and feet climbing up the canyon walls," Moe said.

From there, she was life-flighted to a hospital for treatment.

As for how she survived, Moe said, "Who knows? I mean, maybe she had good survival instincts. She had luck behind her and she managed to pull through those 12 days."

The extent of her condition and injuries is unknown at this time.