Missing Woman, Great-Granddaughter Found in Woods

They vanished during Christmas Eve road trip
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 29, 2016 3:32 AM CST
Missing NJ Girl, Great-Grandma Found Alive
This combination of photos released by the Hamilton Police Department in New Jersey shows Barbara Briley, left, and her 5-year-old great-granddaughter La'Myra Briley.   (Hamilton Police Department via AP)

After days of frantic searching, 71-year-old Barbara Briley and 5-year-old great-granddaughter La'Myra Briley have been found alive. The pair vanished Christmas Eve while on a road trip from New Jersey to North Carolina. A spokesman for the Dinwiddie County Sheriff's Office in Virginia says a property owner found the pair by chance after spotting their vehicle in a remote, wooded rural area on Wednesday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. Barbara Briley, who was found unconscious, was taken to a hospital by helicopter and officials say she is in serious condition. La'Myra, who appeared unharmed, was taken for evaluation before being reunited with relatives. The pair had last been seen Saturday at a gas station north of Richmond, where Briley said she was lost and received help with her GPS.

Briley's SUV was found more than a mile from the nearest main road. Police believe she turned off a public road onto a dirt road and then into woods before becoming stuck. Briley and her great-granddaughter were found around 50 yards from the vehicle and they had apparently been there for several days. "Where they were found by the vehicle, there were some juice boxes, some apples, and some other items," says Virginia State Police Sgt. Steve Vick, per WTVR. "It appears they have been eating and drinking several things during that time period." It's not clear how Briley became so lost: Relatives say she is a retired New Jersey Transit driver who made the trip from New Jersey to North Carolina and back many times over the last 35 years and has no known medical issues. (More missing person stories.)

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