Woman Survives In Car 9 Days After Towing From Kent Gas Station

KENT, WA — A woman who has severe disabilities is lucky to be alive after police said she was inside her mother's car when it was towed from a gas station in Kent and was found nine days later amid near-freezing temperatures.

Kent police said they received a missing person's report on Valentine's Day. A woman told police her sister had severe disabilities and hadn't been seen since earlier in the month. Investigators determined she was last seen Feb. 5, when her 45-year-old mother, a Kent resident, parked her vehicle at a gas station and walked away with her daughter still inside, police said.

Gas station workers asked a private company to tow the vehicle, which was taken to a lot in Burien. Police contacted the tow company, who found the daughter still inside the vehicle. She had been alone inside the car for nine days in the tow yard with near-freezing temperatures.

Kent police immediately requested medical aid. Deputies with the King County Sheriff's Office and fire department rushed to the tow yard to give medical aid to the daughter, who was in serious medical condition. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

The circumstances of the case remain under investigation.

"We are extremely relieved that we were able to locate and rescue the victim," Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla said in a statement. "If not for the efforts of our Officers and the support of King County Sheriffs and Fire, this incident would likely have ended in tragedy."

Bonafacio Pauza of Skyway Towing told KING-TV that whoever called them and said to search the 2004 Cadillac saved her life.

"We sent one of our drivers out, he unlocks the car and had to go through it. She was laying in the backseat, and had a whole bunch of clothes and stuff on top of her," he said. "She was bad enough that my employee immediately contacted us and we called 911, had an ambulance and the police dispatched out here."

Pauza said his driver looked through the windows when it was towed and didn’t see anyone.