Authorities in Florida have found a woman who had been missing for three weeks stuck in a storm drain.
The unnamed woman was discovered naked in the drain after someone heard her cries for help and notified rescue services.
The fire brigade had to remove the lower ladder covering into the deep drain, before managing to get the woman out.
Delray Beach Fire Rescue spokeswoman Dani Moschella told WPLG that the poor woman, who was reported missing earlier in March, was not able to stand on her feet.
“She didn’t have any clothes on. She was very dirt. She had some superficial wounds. Her knees were all scraped up,” she said, adding that how the whole thing happened is a mystery because it is “impossible” for an adult to fit through the entrance of the drain.
It isn’t clear how long she was stuck in the drain before she was rescued.
The woman is now in the care of medical experts, but her condition has not been disclosed.
“She was lucky. I don’t know how much longer she would have been okay down there,” Moschella said, adding that “The idea that somebody might be down there for any length of time is disturbing. It’s dirty, dangerous, there’s snakes, rats, garbage, dirt and leaves, anything that’s on the street that washes into a sewer, and it smells terrible.”
Authorities do not suspect a criminal act, even though the events leading up to the situation remain a mystery, spokesperson for Delray Beach Police Ted White told the Sun-Sentinel.
“From the police department standpoint, we don’t believe there was any type of crime committed,” he said.
“It doesn’t feel like she was taken against her will. It appears this was done by her own free will. She claims that she’s been in the storm drain for a significant amount of time. The biggest question is how long she has been in there, how did she get in there and why?’ he added.
Authorities currently believe that she went into the drain system from another location and somehow ended up getting stuck where she was rescued.
“It’s pretty difficult to get into a storm drain where she was found. You’d have to pull up that huge heavy grate. This is one of the most bizarre situations our officers have ever experienced,” White said.
