She Vanished for 3 Weeks in the Sierra. Then the Phone Rang: ‘Dad, I'm Alive.'

New York Times

15-05-2025

The resort, nestled in the wilds of the Sierra in California, caters to guests looking for an 'off-grid getaway.'
For several months of the year, it is virtually inaccessible, the roads cut off by snow and ice, just like they were during a blizzard this week.
It's not unusual for bears to invite themselves into the tents at the Vermilion Valley Resort, but one of the cabins was unexpectedly occupied on Wednesday when the resort's owner, Christopher Gutierrez, went to check on the property.
'We see the door open,' Mr. Gutierrez recalled. 'And I see some shoes down there. I'm like OK, well, it's just a hiker who just decided to' take shelter from the blizzard the night before.
The person who emerged was Tiffany Slaton, a camper from Georgia who had been missing for more than three weeks and had been the focus of an intense search of roughly 600 square miles of the Sierra.
'She pops out,' he said at a news conference on Wednesday announcing that Ms. Slaton had been found. 'Didn't say a word. Just ran up, and all she wanted was a hug.'
Ms. Slaton, who turned 28 on Thursday, was dehydrated but in otherwise good condition, according to the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, which said that she had been taken to a hospital for treatment and observation. Efforts to reach Ms. Slaton, who told rescuers that she had survived by eating leeks, were not immediately successful.
It had been 24 days since Ms. Slaton had gone camping alone more than 40 miles southwest of the resort, setting out on an electric bike and towing a cargo trailer in the Sierra National Forest, the authorities said. Her family reported her missing several days later, prompting a lengthy search effort.
Her parents, Bobby and Fredrina Slaton, who live in Jeffersonville, Ga., said during the news conference that they had feared that they would never be reunited with their daughter.
But then, as they were shopping for warmer clothes to travel to California while the search was continuing, Mr. Slaton's phone rang.
'She said, 'Dad, I'm alive, and I'm sorry,' ' Mr. Slaton said. 'I asked who was this. And she says, 'This is Tiffany,' and that was it. I just thank God for that moment. Those prayers were answered.'
Mr. Slaton added that he began to cry and that a weight had been lifted.
'This has to be the third or fourth best day of our lives after our children's birth,' he said.
Ms. Slaton said she was so elated that she approached a stranger in the store.
'I just grabbed somebody and said, 'Can I hug you?' ' she said. 'I needed to hug somebody.'
The Slatons, who have a small farm, said that their daughter had spent a lot of time outdoors growing up and had experience foraging. She has a degree in nutrition sciences and worked as a dialysis technician, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Tony Botti, a spokesman for the Fresno County Sheriff's Department, said during the news conference that it was rare for someone to survive so long alone in the Sierra. In the past decade, he said, one woman who was missing for nine days with a broken leg used a water bottle to fetch water from a creek before being found. Another woman, he added, hunkered down in a restroom until she was rescued.
'You just don't see these survivalist stories,' Mr. Botti said. 'She's a fighter. She's not going to give up. She's going to live off the land.'
Mr. Gutierrez, who found Tiffany Slaton at the cabin, described her demeanor as a 'deer in headlights.'
'One of the first questions was, 'What day is it?' ' he said.
Ms. Slaton was not aware of the extensive search that had been going on and was worried about upsetting her father.
'She says she's going to be in trouble,' Mr. Gutierrez said.
The cabin where Ms. Slaton waited out the blizzard is described on the resort's website as a 'cozy getaway' on the edge of a lake. It rents for about $190 a night in season.
Although the resort was still closed, Mr. Gutierrez said, the cabin was kept unlocked — just for this sort of situation.
'She pushed through that blizzard, and the first thing she saw was a cabin,' he said, adding that Ms. Slaton had abandoned most of her belongings, save for a sleeping bag.
And she had hunger pangs. Not for leeks.
'All she wanted,' he said, 'was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.'