Woman found in car 8 days after crash

A US woman who had been missing for eight days was found alive in her car at the bottom of a ravine.

A US woman who had been missing for eight days was found alive in her car at the bottom of a ravine.

Search teams in Washington state discovered Tanya Rider after tracing a signal from her mobile phone. The 33-year-old responded to her name when her car was found along a road she commuted on in suburban Seattle, State Patrol Sgt Dave Divis said.

King County sheriff's investigators used a phone signal to recheck a segment of the highway, State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill said.

Yesterday afternoon they noticed some matted brush, and below it they found her Honda Element, smashed on its side.

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"She looks very pale, very dehydrated. She didn't have a lot of cuts but had difficulty breathing," Mr Merrill said.

Ms Rider was taken to a Seattle hospital.

Her husband, Tom Rider, said she was "fighting for her life", suffering from kidney failure and sores from lying in the same position for a week.

Her car plunged about 20 feet down the ravine and lay buried below heavy brush and blackberry bushes. Rescuers had to cut the roof off to get her out.