CASSIA COUNTY -- The Cassia County undersheriff says it's one of the more bizarre cases they've ever investigated. A Texas woman lost her way and ended up stuck in a dairy drainage pond for about five days.
On Sunday afternoon officers were called to a rural Burley house where someone reported that a woman came there asking for help after being stuck in her car in a dairy wastewater pond.
According to the Cassia County sheriff’s report, the Texas woman, 61-year-old Lynn Keesler, was driving her rental car near 800 West and 500 South in Burley when she got lost while looking for her hotel.
The police report says Keesler was given directions by a sheriff's deputy five days before and was told to cross back over the river. The report says Keesler saw the drainage pond and believed that was where she needed to turn.
“She tried to go around what she thought was a mud puddle or a large body of water and ended up out to a field and down to a drainage pond,” said Undersheriff George Warrell.
The first night Keesler told deputies she flashed her headlights and honked the horn until the battery died, but nobody responded.
“She made the comment that she had always been told to stay with your vehicle and not to leave,” said Warrell.
Keesler ate Peanut Butter M&M's and drank bottled water for an estimated five days. Because of all the recent rain, the dairy decided to begin pumping water into the pond and the car began filling with water.
“She decided at that point the vehicle was starting to get submerged in the water. She decided to walk, and walk to a farm house,” said Warrell.
When she arrived at the house, the homeowners called police and an ambulance, but Keesler refused help, just asking for a warm bed and a bath.
“I've never seen one like this before. I'm glad she's OK, and I'm glad everything worked out fine and hopefully she got where she was going,” said Warrell.
The sheriff's office says Keesler was disoriented when she finally made her way to safety. The rental car has been located and retrieved.
