A Hawaii woman missing for more than two weeks in a forest is alive and well, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports.
Searchers on Friday discovered Amanda Eller, 35, who had disappeared May 8 while hiking in the Makawao Forest Reserve.
Eller was reportedly in good condition when a helicopter crew located her in a creek between two waterfalls. She was later flown to a designated landing zone and reunited with loved ones.
“We did it, man! We found her,” Javier Cantellops told the newspaper.
Cantellops, a former special operations airborne ranger, is among the friends and family who searched for Eller the past 16 days and was in the helicopter when Eller was found.
Eller was reportedly far east of the forest and trail she had planned to hike.
As the news outlet notes, a Facebook page dedicated to the search posted an update around 4:30 p.m. Friday: “Urgent update! Amanda has been found. She was injured in the forest. She is being air evacuated now. She just talk to her father on the phone. Amanda Eller is alive !!!!”
The post has since gone viral. In the first hour alone, it reportedly drew upwards of 7,000 reactions and 3,000 shares, and more than 2,000 people had commented on it.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Eller is a physical therapist and yoga instructor. She hadn’t been since May 8, when security cameras captured her buying and mailing a Mother’s Day gift.
An off-duty firefighter reportedly found her white Toyota Rav4 in a parking lot for the Makawao Forest Reserve. Her wallet and phone were still inside the vehicle, and a key was on a tire. Staffers closed the gates at 7 p.m., when the park closes, and her boyfriend, Ben Konkol, reported her missing the following morning.
As reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, rescue crews and more than 100 volunteers searched extensively for Eller using dogs, drones, GPS technology and other equipment.
Eller’s parents live in North Carolina and flew to Hawaii to take part in the search. Her mother, Julia, has previously said in an interview with KITV that the experience was “a mother’s worst nightmare.”
