MI Woman, 74, Survives 3 Days In Woods After Car Fire: Sheriff

GRANT TOWNSHIP, MI — A 74-year-old woman survived three days in a wooded area after she got lost on her way home from a northern Michigan casino, according to the Mason County Sheriff's Office.

On Sunday afternoon, investigators were called to check out a burned vehicle at Countyline and Morton roads in Grant Township, officials said.

Officials learned the vehicle belonged to a Norton Shores woman, who was last seen last Thursday afternoon at the Little River Casino. The casino is roughly 95 miles north of Norton Shores.

Officials began searching the area and found the 74-year-old woman lying next to a downed tree in a heavily wooded area at 7:08 p.m. Sunday.

They found the woman, identified as Nancy Bloomquist, using a drone that captured her thermal imagery, officials said.

Officials confirmed Bloomquist was the missing Norton Shores woman and said she was alive and talking with officers.

Bloomquist was found roughly 150 yards from her vehicle, officials said.

Officials said Bloomquist had left the Little River Casino on Thursday afternoon and was returning to Norton Shores. Along the way, she got lost and ended up on a long driveway of a seasonal home, officials said.

While trying to turn around, her vehicle broke down and caught fire, officials said.

Bloomquist left her vehicle, but then tried to return after she realized she had forgotten her cell phone, officials said.

While trying to get back to her vehicle, she became lost in the wooded area just north of the Manistee National Forest, officials said.

That night, she lain down next to a downed tree to shield herself from the nighttime rain, officials said.

As temperatures dipped below 22 degrees, "she became cold to the point that she could not get back to her feet Friday," officials said.

She remained lying on the ground until officials found her Sunday evening, officials said.

Temperatures remained cold with snowflakes through through the weekend.

Officials said she was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for exposure.

Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole told 13 ON YOUR SIDE the person who owns the seasonal home where the woman's car broke down doesn't travel there very often.

"It's just blind luck that the homeowner happened to come up and found the car on their property," Cole said.