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Washington Teen Is Found Alive After Eight Days

Captain Rob Torrey, Redmond Fire Department

Associated Press

REDMOND, Washington (AP) -- A teenager was found alive in her wrecked car after being missing for eight days.

Laura Hatch, 17, last seen at a party Oct. 2, was found Sunday in her 1996 Toyota Camry about 150 feet (50 meters) below a road in this suburb east of Seattle, King County sheriff's deputies said.

Hatch was in a serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. She was being treated for dehydration, a possible blood clot, broken ribs, a broken leg and facial injuries, hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson said Monday.

``We were afraid that we weren't going to find her, we weren't going to get her back,'' Hatch's sister Amy told KING television in Seattle. ``This is the best thing that could happen because there were a million awful scenarios.''

Hatch evidently went eight days without food or water, sheriff's Sergeant John Urquhart said, adding that there had been no indication of foul play.

``There was no police search,'' he added. ``We felt she was most likely a runaway.'' Authorities did release a statewide bulletin and sent advisories to all local police agencies.

Sha Nohr, whose daughter is a friend of Hatch, found the teen Sunday in a wooded area where 200 volunteers had searched unsuccessfully the day before.

She said she had dreamed about a wooded area and went out to look Sunday with her daughter.

Along the way, Nohr said, she prayed: ``I just thought, 'Let her speak out to us.''' She barely managed to discern the wrecked car in some trees after climbing over a concrete barrier and down an embankment.

``I told her that people were looking for her and they loved her,'' Nohr recalled, ``and she said, 'I think I might be late for curfew.'''

Nohr called to her daughter, who flagged down a passing motorist.

More than 100 people cheered and sang at a church prayer service Sunday night that initially had been planned as a vigil.

``We had already given her up and let her be dead in our hearts,'' the girl's mother, Jean Hatch, told KOMO-TV.

CAPT. ROB TORREY, PIO
Redmond Fire Department

A local teenager missing since Saturday, October 2, 2004, was found alive this afternoon inside her wrecked 1996 Toyota Camry. Family friends out searching for the missing teenager located the accident site approximately 150 feet over the embankment in the 20200 block of NE Union Hill Road, Redmond. Preliminary interviews suggest she may have been in the car the entire week. The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the accident to determine how and when it occurred.

Eastside Communications received a call at 11:08a.m. on Sunday, October 10, 2004 indicating a car over the embankment 300 feet down, with a female trapped in the back seat of the vehicle. At 11:10a.m., two fire engines, an aid car, a medic unit, a Medical Services Officer, and a Battalion Chief from Redmond Fire were dispatched. The first unit arrived at 11:14a.m. and was directed to the vehicle location down the hillside. Redmond Fire’s ladder truck responded to assist with the specialized rope systems necessary to operate on the step hillside. A total of 19 fire department personnel responded on the incident.

Evidence on several trees indicates the vehicle left the roadway and was airborne for a period prior to striking trees and dead snags 12 to 15 feet above the hillside. After tumbling down the hillside the vehicle landed on its wheels, facing uphill with the trunk resting against a tree; preventing it from tumbling the additional 200 feet to the base of the hill. Firefighter/EMT’s found the patient conscious and able to communicate somewhat. Firefighters stabilized the vehicle with ropes, prior to using the “Jaws of Life” to extricate the patient. The extrication onto a backboard took 36 minutes. The patient was loaded into a stokes basket and transported to the base of the hill using a rope system. The patient was transported by a Redmond Fire Medic unit to Harborview Medical Center.

A Redmond Fire Department Chaplain responded to attend to the family at the scene and Harborview.