A Michigan State Police trooper and his K-9 partner have been praised for their efforts in finding a “disorientated” woman who had become lost in a cornfield after a car crash, according to police.
The 45-year-old woman, who has not been publicly identified, crashed into a tree on Sunday, August 6, in Livingston County, Michigan, according to a statement from the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office.
State trooper Jeff Schrieber and his K-9 partner, a four-year-old Geman shepherd, Woodson, went out in sweltering heat searching for the woman, who was believed to have wondered into the cornfield after the accident.
The sister of the victim spoke to WXYZ-TV’s 7 Action news and said when the car was discovered that blood was found on the steering wheel. She added she believes the victim woke up disoriented before leaving the scene of the crash.
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Members of the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office were unable to find the woman, according to the press release. On Tuesday, the Michigan State Police Aviation Unit and MSP K-9 units joined in to continue the search.
Newsweek has contacted the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office and the Michigan State Police via their websites for comment.
Schrieber and Woodson began their search and looked for the woman for over nine hours in and around 200 acres of fields of tall, dense corn before they found her.
“I have been doing this so long, you make contact with the family and you feel for them,” he said, while speaking to ABC affiliated WXYZ-TV.
“You know that you are just trying to have a good outcome. It was believed she had crashed on Sunday and nobody had heard or seen from her since then. At that point in time we initiated a search.
“[Woodson’s] job was to locate a person at that point in time. He goes for any human in that area.
“It feels like needles going in your face as you are going through the corn as you are going at a high rate of speed with the dog. [Woodson] is pulling.
“I was in the middle of the cornfield still and he proceeded to pull me about 75 yards in the right direction. The troopers responded and we lifted her and carried her over 200 yards through the swamp and the woods and the cornfield.
“When you work that hard and you finally come to the end and you are just hoping for a good outcome.
“Normally we don’t have good outcomes and this one was a good outcome because she was alive.”
The sister also remarked how grateful she was for the efforts of the duo and stated that Schreiber had promised the family that he would find her.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office said it had determined the woman was the driver and sole occupant in the car crash accident.
They added that she was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash and that they are currently investigating the incident.
