Missing Modesto woman found alive in Merced County weeks after car crash

FRESNO, Calif. -- A Modesto teacher was found alive weeks after she crashed her car and disappeared. A ranch manager and search volunteers found Jamie Tull near a fence less than a mile away from the crash site.

"I did not wake up this morning thinking that I would find Jamie. It's a miracle that we did," said Robert Carpenter, a family friend.

Searchers found Tull on Friday morning, just a couple of miles away from Planada. Volunteers searching for Tull had decided to come back to the original site and look around one last time.

Mario Bianchi said during their search he spotted something unusual in the field.

"I see something out of the ordinary, looked like a set of knees. All of a sudden we got close. 'Oh, my God, that's her.' And we wondered if she was alive and she said, 'I'm alive.'"

Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said Tull was extremely sunburned, dehydrated, and was malnourished when they found her but Tull said she did not want to be rescued.

"When we were treating her here we were talking to her about getting her to the hospital. She didn't want anything to do with that, she wanted some food and water, and then let her go."

Warnke said searchers found some of Tull's belongings by a windmill in the field. He said she survived by eating insects and drinking water from a nearby cow trough.

Tull was treated at the site and then airlifted to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.

Authorities told KFSN-TV that Tull had been taking medication for emotional issues, but had not been taking that medication around the time she crashed her car.

KFSN asked officials why it took so long to find Tull and they said she was moving around this area, and the tall grass makes it very easy for someone to hide.

Contacted by the TV station, Tull's parents declined to comment on her disappearance and rescue.