Easton police officers who waded 50 feet through muddy swamp waters, almost getting stuck themselves, to rescue a woman wouldn't learn that their efforts were ending a desperate weeklong search for her until after the work was complete.
Those officers, along with Easton firefighters and Stoughton police officers, described the rescue to reporters at a briefing on Wednesday. The woman, who had been reported missing from Stoughton, is safely recovering at the hospital.
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It's a happy outcome for many agencies who had been involved in the search.
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Stoughton police had first appealed to the public for help in finding the 31-year-old, who was first reported missing on June 26. On Monday, officers responded to Borderland State Park in Easton, near Stoughton and about 30 miles south of Boston, after two hikers called 911 and reported hearing a woman's screams deep in the woods.
Officers, who could hear the woman's cries for help through the brush, waded about 50 feet through swamp to reach her.
“When we were briefly in there it was clear to see how someone could be stuck there just from our own body weights we sunk pretty deeply,” explained Patrolman Corey McLaughlin, who added that the officers wound up about knee deep in mud.
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Patrolman Jason Wheeler said they tried to use rescue tools to reach her, but the thick mud made them ineffective, so they had to use their own bodies to make it through.
"All of us at one point fell in pretty deep. I fell in, could hardly get up,” Wheeler said, adding that at one point he had to grab a little tree to pull himself out.
The teamwork between Wheeler, McLaughlin and Patrolman Andrew Stanton paid off and the officers were able to remove her from the mud to get her to waiting firefighters and paramedics for treatment.
They said the woman gave her name and when they called in the report they learned that she was the same woman who had been reported missing from Stoughton - a positive outcome after a week of searching.
"It’s extremely incredible and we’re very happy with the outcome of this," Wheeler added.
Police believe the woman may have been stuck in the mud for at least three days. She was severely dehydrated but is expected to be OK.
Tony Ioannidis of the Easton Fire Department, who was also involved in the rescue, could not get into specifics of the woman's treatment due to privacy concerns but said typical issues to look for in that situation include everything from dehydration to electrolyte imbalance to sunburn, and of course, any other injuries sustained. he said overall her condition was OK when she was pulled out.
In an interview with NBC10 Boston on Tuesday, her parents said it was "miraculous" she was found, and they were grateful for the efforts.
"We were not very hopeful. They kept searching and searching," Barbara Zinaman told NBC10 Boston.
The family said the woman has some mental health challenges that could make her recovery a little longer, but they are hopeful that she will be home soon.
The section of park the woman was found in was off a walking trail and can be difficult to access. Officials said it not unusual for them to respond to reports of lost hikers at the state park and that they have a long relationship with the park rangers.
