Lost for a month in the woods, she survived off berries and wild mushrooms
A Louisville woman who spent an entire month lost in the wilderness with no shelter and only wild berries and mushrooms for food has been found safe.
A car driving on Highway 82 discovered 25-year-old Lisa Theris as she emerged from acres of dense woods in Alabama last weekend, a month after her disappearance, according to WSFA.
“A motorist from Florida was driving 82 east of Midway and saw something moving in the bushes,” Sheriff Raymond Rodgers said to WSFA. “She went back and there was the young lady in the wooded area. She called us and told us she had located the missing person. Finally the young lady has been found and she’s alive. Thank God.”
Theris lost around 50 pounds during her time in the wilderness, according to the sheriff. She survived primarily by drinking water out of a brook and foraging for berries and mushrooms.
She also had no shoes, phone or purse — and was located in thousands of acres of isolated forests with no houses or roads nearby.
“I’ve been doing this now going on 15 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. Her will to live is incredible,” Bullock County Sheriff’s Sergeant Faulkner said to WTVY. “I hate to classify it as a miracle, but it’s a miracle.”
After she was found, Theris was rushed to an emergency room, where she reunited with her family.
“Words cannot describe the happiness and relief we feel that she has been found and returned to us,” Elizabeth Theris, her sister, said to WFSA. “We are lucky that she is alive; she is so strong and has made it through so much.”
“She is severely weakened, she is in pain, she is emaciated,” she continued. “There is not an inch of her that has not been affected.”
Her brother, Will Theris, said his sister “has some complications and has a lot of healing to get through, but she is standing strong and full of jokes as ever.”
“The next few weeks will be rough, but she is handling it all like a trooper and our family will continue to do all we can to help,” he said. “We are very thankful for everyone’s thoughts and prayers.”
Theris was reported missing on July 23. She ran away in the forest after discovering two men she was there with had plans to burglarize a hunting camp because she did not want to be associated with the crime.
Randall Oswald and Manley Davis, the two men, are charged with the crime.
They have not been charged in Theris’ disappearance, according to WTVY.
“She’s not familiar with this area and apparently on the night she ran, she went into the woods at night and got lost,” Rodgers said. “I just thank God that she’s alive.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2017 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Lost for a month in the woods, she survived off berries and wild mushrooms."