Missing Minnesota woman found alive, nearly submerged in mud

Kathryn Jane Woessner survived three days trapped in a muddy pit west of Backus, Minnesota, after her van slipped off a remote trail and left her nearly submerged, with only part of her face visible when rescuers arrived. The 68-year-old Alexandria woman was found alive on June 6, after last being seen on June 3, in a wooded stretch near Park Rapids and Hackensack that was roughly 80 miles from her home, with one report placing it at more than 100 miles away.

Two West Fargo men, Adam Sandbeck and Mike Gravalin, came upon Woessner while riding a side-by-side ATV on an unfamiliar route. They first found her black 2015 Chrysler Town and Country minivan stuck in mud, then spotted what Sandbeck later described as a body in the puddle beside it. Woessner whispered, “Help me,” after the men noticed her in water and mud they estimated to be about two feet deep.

Woessner told the rescuers her van had become stuck, she got out to try to free it, slipped, and fell into mud that felt like quicksand. The men said she had been stuck on her back, badly sunburned and dehydrated, and that her mouth and part of her face were the only parts visible at first. Authorities said she had no personal belongings with her when she was found.

Emergency crews took Woessner to Essentia Health-St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Brainerd because of medical conditions. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had issued an Endangered Missing Person Alert after she disappeared, underscoring how quickly a vulnerable adult can become hard to locate once they leave a road or trail and lose the ability to call for help.

Sandbeck later said he believed the rescue happened because he and Gravalin took a different route than usual, and he credited divine intervention. He also said the episode showed the importance of rural ambulance crews and law enforcement in areas where a person can be only steps from a vehicle and still be nearly impossible to find.

By Sunday, Sandbeck said he had spoken with Woessner by phone and that she was out of the hospital recovering with family. Authorities were still investigating how she ended up so far from home on the remote trail, but the rescue already offered a rare ending in a search that could easily have turned fatal.