



Mary Dow. Photos provided by the Mendo Sheriff’s Office.

Mary Dow, the mushroom picker who went missing on Wednesday evening after separating from her nephew in the thick timber off of Branscomb Road, has been found alive.

Lt. Shannon Barney of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office told the Outpost in a phone interview this morning, that Dow wandered into the rescue camp yesterday afternoon, almost too cold to speak.

“She was so hypothermic we couldn’t interview her,” Barney said. “She came wandering in to the command post, I don’t know if she heard the noise of our vehicles or what. She was originally thought to be 50 yards from there, but I think she went much further than that and came back.”

Despite suffering from a serious case of hypothermia, Barney said the 58-year-old was able to explain that she fell into a nearby river.

“She fell into a river and said she burnt her shoes one night to say warm,” Barney said. “She had a few bumps and bruises, but she was doing pretty good considering the circumstances.”

Dow is recovering at a local hospital after spending three nights, including Thanksgiving, braving the wilderness.

“She was in bad shape cold wise,” Barney said. “After we got her into camp, it started hailing, so she lucked out.”