A missing 28-year-old woman last seen Sunday in the Hollywood Hills area who left a trail of clues stretching north to the Antelope Valley has been found alive, authorities said Wednesday.

Laura Lynne Stacy was suffering from dehydration and exposure to the recent cold, officials said. She was reportedly examined by paramedics and taken to Antelope Valley Hospital to be checked.

Stacy has been reunited with her family, who flew from the Denver area to search for her. It was still a mystery how she wound up in the northern reaches of L.A. County.

Two Los Angeles police detectives were heading to Lancaster to take part in the investigation when they saw Stacy on the side of the 14 Freeway near Avenue K, LAPD Lt. Dionne Watts said.

“I’m sure the parents are pleased. This type of successful end is what we hope for in law enforcement,” Detective Tim O’Quinn told KABC-TV. “You don’t get it often on cold nights. It’s a great outcome to this story.”

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Laura Stacy had recently moved to California from Colorado to develop her real estate career and explore creative opportunities, her mother, Marcy Stacy, said on Tuesday.

“She wanted to try something new and come to California,” Marcy Stacy told the Daily News by phone Tuesday night, describing her daughter as “smart and beautiful and kind.”

Stacy’s family thanked authorities and anyone else who searched for her.

“The family is very grateful to have located their daughter, Laura Lynne Stacy, and would like to thank everyone involved in the search to locate her,” said Lisa Garcia, a representative for Stacy’s family.

“Specifically, we would like to thank the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for their swift response, the LASD Volunteer Search and Rescue team and local volunteers who came out to search, and to the media for alerting the public, all of which helped to bring this search to a close.”

“Our daughter’s physical condition is currently being evaluated by medical professionals, and we await the results. Our family is not in a position to grant interviews at this time and as a result, we respectfully request privacy. We will advise later when we are prepared to give a further statement.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the mother and other family members flew out from Colorado and placed posters in the Burbank/Hollywood Hills area where Laura Stacy lives and in Santa Clarita at Golden Valley Park, where her cell phone was found Monday morning.

Stacy was last seen driving a 2005 black Acura TL in the 3600 block of Barham Boulevard, two blocks south of Forest Lawn Drive, LAPD officials reported Tuesday.

About 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, her car was found near 90th Street East and Avenue E in Lancaster, said Lt. Larry Alva of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station. Alva added no one was located after deputies searched the car and the area.

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A video posted to the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station Twitter account around 11 a.m. Wednesday showed sheriff’s department detective O’Quinn giving a news conference where he said a “grid search” was being conducted and a helicopter was also being used.

O’Quinn added the recovery of Stacy’s car on Tuesday night had “nothing suspicious seen in or around the vehicle.” O’Quinn said he did not know if the 28-year-old possibly obtained a ride from someone which “would not put her in this area.” The detective explained there had been a couple of possible sightings of her between Sunday morning and Monday morning but he had no further information.

Laura Stacy’s family initally ended up in Santa Clarita after the mother received a text at 5:15 a.m. Monday from Laura Stacy’s cell phone saying someone had found the phone at the park — about 30 miles from where the missing woman was last seen. The person who texted, who was not Laura, turned the phone in to the LAPD’s North Hollywood Station, the mother said.

“(Laura possibly) dropped the phone and left the phone at Golden Valley Park,” Marcy Stacy said. “She could have got disorientated and was driving without a GPS or directions. Maybe she got out of the car and walked awhile.”

An early break in the case came when the car was found Tuesday night, Marcy Stacy said, adding the local news reports about her missing daughter and putting up fliers in Santa Clarita area successfully got the word out.

Staff writer Ryan Fonseca, City News Service and The Associated Press contributed to this report.