A missing woman was found and rescued in rural Idaho after a group of mountain bikers discovered her injured and disoriented more than 17 miles from where she was last seen, authorities said.
Heather Wayment, reported missing by her family on Sept. 17, had last been spotted in the Prairie Creek area of Blaine County, according to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office.
Multiple agencies launched a search effort, but she was ultimately found a day later by unrelated mountain bikers in neighboring Camas County.
The group, brothers Tommy and Vinton Gwinn and their friend Shelton Robinson, came across Wayment while riding on a remote trail during an annual camping trip. She was dressed only in her underwear and her feet were bleeding heavily.
“We stopped, as she was obviously in bad shape,” Tommy Gwinn told East Idaho News. “She didn’t want help at first. She was scared and very guarded. It took about a half-hour before she would talk.”
The bikers provided her with water and a jacket while trying to reassure her. Robinson said, “We got her some filtered water from the creek and gave her a jacket. She let her guard down a bit and told us her name and that she was lost.”
According to the bikers, Wayment had removed her shorts to wrap her feet and had left her phone inside her vehicle before she disappeared.
Shortly afterward, three other riders, identified as Andrew Mortensen, Randy Ivy, and another individual, arrived and recognized her as the subject of the ongoing search. Together, the groups provided food and water and attempted to call for help despite the lack of cell service in the area.
Using GPS mapping, satellite texts, and an off-road navigation app, the Gwinn brothers relayed their location to family in Pocatello, who then contacted law enforcement.
“At 3:45 p.m. and about 50 messages later, we finally got word that a rescue helicopter was on the way,” Tommy Gwinn said. “Technology worked very well in this situation.”
One dirt biker transported Wayment on his motorcycle to a meadow accessible to a helicopter. A Life Flight crew arrived and airlifted her to a hospital by 5:45 p.m. Her condition has not been disclosed.
“This is really rugged country,” Tommy Gwinn said. “She was not on a bike path and had to go over numerous mountains to get where she was. It was so cold at night. It’s remarkable she’s still alive.”
Blaine County Sheriff Morgan Ballis credited both deputies and the mountain bikers with ensuring Wayment’s safe recovery.
“We especially want to thank our Blaine County Sheriff’s Office deputies for their incredible efforts over the past two days and the mountain bikers who were able to contact law enforcement, guide the Life Flight crew to Heather, and remain by Heather’s side offering aid until medical assistance could arrive,” Ballis said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
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