MAXWELL, CA (MPG) – The Colusa County Sheriff’s Office on Friday said the woman who had been missing in the rice fields near Maxwell for over 24 hours had been located.
Judith Ann Isola, 78, of Red Bluff, was reported missing just before 10 am on Thursday.
Colusa County Assistant Sheriff Michael Bradwell said Isola walked away while her husband and son were preparing duck blinds for the fall hunting season and was unable to find her way back to them.
The Sheriff’s Office, volunteers, K-9 units, and allied agencies, some using heat-sensing devices, searched the marshes near where her family had last seen her, and the area south of Maxwell-Colusa Road, behind Richter Aviation, which is located at Four Mile Road, after Richter’s cameras did not detect that Isola may have crossed over the highway.
The search lasted all night and well into the following day, Bradwell said. Although Isola was not located using heat-sensing devices, searchers did detect a mountain lion who showed a strong interest in a search dog and seemed to stalk its movements for a possible opportunity.
Isola was eventually found southwest of Maxwell-Colusa Road, quite a distance from where she was last seen, lying on her back at the side of a rice field. She was responsive and unharmed, except for minor exposure to the elements, including mosquitos, and was immediately airlifted to a hospital by helicopter, Bradwell said.
The Colusa County Sheriff’s Office extended its thanks to the California Rescue Dog Association, Yuba County Sheriff K9s, Colusa County Search and Rescue, Maxwell Fire Department, Williams Fire department, CHP Air Operations, Williams Soaring Center, Richter Aviation, Colusa Police Department, Colusa City Fire, Office of Emergency Services, Rocco’s, Williams Copter 331, and Maxwell irrigation district for all of their assistance and effort on the ground and in the air.