Woman rescued after 14 hours trapped in canyon crash

SANTA ANA, CA -- A woman who was trapped for 14 hours after crashing down a remote California canyon was rescued Thursday afternoon.

The woman drove off an embankment nearly 400 feet down by the intersection of the 241 Freeway and Santiago Canyon, according to Orange County Fire Authority.

OCFA said the woman was driving from Riverside to Orange County on Wednesday. When she never showed up to her destination, her husband began to worry.

Her husband said he received a call from her early Thursday morning and was able to give him a general location from her GPS.

"She'd been in a car accident, she didn't know where she is. She's in a wooded area, that's it," her husband, who asked to not be identified, told ABC7. "She was able to make a phone call, that went out, then she called back and that's when I was able to talk to her a little bit, but her battery went dead."

The victim's husband began driving and calling for help. Later Thursday afternoon, the California Highway Patrol spotted her.

"The only reason they found her was because the CHP had pinged her phone and it came back to one of the cellphone towers in the area, they used the helicopter to search for the wreckage," Capt. Larry Kurtz with the Orange County Fire Authority said.

Firefighters were then able to get to the woman and pull her out of the mangled car.

The woman was airlifted to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Paramedics said she was in stable condition.

OCFA said the woman was lucky to be alive because they often have crashes in the same area that don't end nearly as well.

Her husband said he was just thankful they found her and she's OK.

"I know there's a God. I always knew there was a God. Now I know there's a God," he said.