Woman Found Stranded, Clung To Tree 12 Hours After She Went Missing

Officials with the Reno Fire Department in Nevada said that a woman who was reported missing the morning of February 14 was found stranded and hanging on to a tree on a "steep" slope nearly 12 hours later.

ABC-affiliate station KOLO reported that Gayle Stewart was missing since 10 a.m. on Valentine's Day. A search party was organized, and one member found her later that evening on the slope. A rescue team used a rope pull system to get Stewart off of the slope and back to safety.

A piece published by FirefighterNOW explained the different types of rope rescues that professionals may use to save someone, depending on the steepness of the slope.

"Actually kind of a miracle story," Battalion Chief for the Reno Fire Department Seth Williams told KOLO. "The son called up some friends to start searching for her and one of the boys just decided to head off this cliff thinking maybe she fell down there and found her clinging to a tree."

The rescue team, which consisted of about 28 people, arrived at about 9:15 p.m. that evening and spent roughly 30 minutes pulling Stewart to safety.

FirefighterNOW wrote about three rope rescues—low-angle rope rescues, high-angle rope rescues and steep-angle rope rescues.

Low-angle rope rescues are used when there is a slight descent to get to victims. It is a common type of rope rescue and the piece noted that many firefighters will use the equipment at some point.

The high-angle rope rescue is used when the ascent is higher and steeper, but these types of rescues can be dangerous.

"These situations are much more dangerous because the rescuer is in almost as much peril as the victim of the accident," FirefighterNOW's piece read. "Health and safety are essential here."

Steep-angle rope rescues are not quite as extreme as high-angle rescues, but they may be more difficult to execute than a low-angle rescue.

"No firefighter should go into an incident that is at this sort of angle if they have only had training in low-angle solutions," the piece read. "Those that have gained their high-angle certifications should be able to adapt. However, there are some training centers that will provide courses specifically for steep angle responses."

If Stewart was not been found by the search team until later, the outcome could have been much grimmer.

"With the rain and the snow coming tonight she's already been exposed for the better part of 12 hours," Williams said. "It could have been a very different outcome had he not found her when he did."

She was taken to a nearby hospital to receive treatment but is expected to make a recovery.

Newsweek reached out to the Reno Fire Department for further comment but did not hear back in time for publication.