Hiker Found Alive Days After Disappearing from Appalachian Trail

A hiker who went missing from her campsite on the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut last Wednesday has reappeared alive and well, authorities say.

Marta Renee Bowen, a 60-year-old physician from Durham, North Carolina, left her hiking gear and cell phone behind when she disappeared from an AT shelter near Kent, state police said in an initial post about the incident last week. Her disappearance sparked a search by several local fire agencies, including volunteer personnel from Kent, Sherman and Warren, as well as a dive team and helicopter from the Connecticut State Police and officers from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).

It was Bowen herself, however, who ended up contacting the authorities. Speaking to Connecticut’s NBC affiliate, the DEEP said that Bowen had encountered a group of hikers on the trail south of her campsite and used their cell phone to call 911. Emergency responders located Bowen and provided her with medical treatment.

At the time she went missing, Bowen was reportedly section-hiking the AT with two companions. State police say they believe she walked away on her own; DEEP officials told Danbury’s News-Times they believed Bowen may have gotten up during the night and become lost.