Sacramento woman missing for 12 days found alive on top of Northern California river canyon

A Sacramento woman, who had been missing for 12 days, was found alive Friday afternoon severely dehydrated and emaciated in a remote area of Nevada County.

Esmeralda Marie Pineda, 24, required immediate medical attention and was taken to a hospital in a California Highway Patrol helicopter, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release.

Sheriff’s officials said the extent of Pineda’s condition and her injuries were unknown.

Pineda reportedly went missing Aug. 26 and was last seen at a mining claim camp near the middle fork of the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek, five miles northwest of Nevada City.

Sheriff’s officials said their search for the missing woman began the same day in an area that’s “treacherous in nature” and required the sheriff’s Search and Rescue volunteers to rappel into and out of the canyon to look for her.

When the search began, sheriff’s officials said Pineda is from Sacramento and could possibly be trying to return.

About 12:40 p.m. Friday, deputies spotted Pineda on the top of the river canyon in the vicinity of the Yuba River and Sweetland Creek, not far from where she went missing 12 days earlier.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dustin Moe, who was among the deputies who found Pineda Friday, was on the sheriff’s office’s Razor, an off-road vehicle used to search in more mountainous areas.

“The Sheriff’s Office and our search and rescue volunteers covered extensive ground throughout our search, and we are thankful today to find her alive,” Moe said in the news release.

North San Juan Fire Department firefighters responded to provide medical care at the scene. The deputies radioed for an airlift, and the CHP responded with its helicopter.