Missing Tanya Rider Miraculously Found Alive at Bottom of a Ravine in Washington State
33 year old Tanya Rider had been missing for 8 days. She had been last seen leaving for work on September 19, 2007. Rider was found alive at the 
bottom of a ravine in her SUV on Thursday afternoon. Her vehicle was found about 20 feet down the ravine and lay buried below heavy brush and bushes. Searches located the missing Tanya Rider by her cell phone signal.
Tanya Rider, 33, responded to her name when her SUV was found along a highway in suburban Seattle, State Patrol Sgt. Dave Divis said.
King County sheriff’s investigators used a cell phone signal to recheck a segment of the highway, State Patrol spokesman Jeff Merrill said. On Thursday afternoon, they noticed some matted brush, and below it they found her Honda Element, smashed on its side.
“She looks very pale, very dehydrated. She didn’t have a lot of cuts but had difficulty breathing,” Merrill said. (CNN)
Missing Wash. Woman Found Alive in Car
Missing woman, rescued from car, is in critical condition
Tom Rider, her husband, was at the Sheriff’s Office taking a polygraph test when he heard the news that his wife had been found, and he joined her at the hospital. He said that his wife was suffering from kidney failure and sores from being trapped in the same position for a week but that she was conscious.
“Pretty much she’s fighting for her life,” he said.
Doctors are concerned that as they rehydrate her, the sores could swell and cause more injuries, he added.
It is WONDERFUL that she is alive and a miracle that she was found at all – judging from the helicopter shots I saw on CNN. It is a shame that it took so long for authorities to listen to the husband, especially since he was so willing for the searches and polygraphs to be done. And since she was found with a cell phone signal – which was surely there several days ago, too.
I realize that often times the spouse is responsible for the disappearance of women, but it is shame that it is the FIRST thought that goes through some people’s mind.
God bless and we in Georgia will keep you in our prayers.
Comment by Babs | September 28, 2007
Also, I just want to say that the rescue people and the deputies did a remarkable job. Most of my family is in rescue work and I recognize experience when I see it. The teamwork that it took to get down in that ravine, cut the car top off, and get her back up that hill was amazing!!
Congratulations to you all for a job well done!!!
Babs
Comment by Babs | September 28, 2007
It was a long shot that led to Tanya Rider’s dramatic rescue, “pinging” her cell phone to narrow the search. The technique gave investigators a five-mile radius to look in. There is a service, called EmergencyTrack, http://www.emergencytrack.com ,that could have prevented all of this from happening. They offer a personal GPS tracking device, along with a 24/7 service and web tracking. If she had an EmergencyTrack device, it would have taken minutes, not days to locate her, and it would be a matter of feet, not miles. People need to realize that there is technology out there that can not only make life more fun, but save a life in an emergency situation.
Comment by Alexandre | September 28, 2007
The cops should have been brilliant after blowing the husband off for a week and subjecting him to polygrafs when all they had to do was what they eventually did – use the cell phone to trace her. They were EXTREMELY lucky that the phone was still working that long. She may have permanent kidney damage that could have been prevented. She did NOT need to be this sick when she was cut out of the car.
Comment by John Hillman | September 30, 2007
At first glance it seems that the police did not take this case seriously. It’s a shame that a woman almost dies because authorities don’t want to take time to looking into a potential missing persons case. Seems that there have been many cases in the news of police negligence in missing person/accident cases. Anyone read the story of the father in Gary Indiana that found his son dead hours after a car accident because police gave up looking for the two missing boys? Or I saw on cnn another case where a father found his child’s car in a ditch on the side of a road almost a week after the kid disappeared. What exactly does our tax money give us in the form of police departments?
Comment by Michelle | September 30, 2007
I live in the UK and over here we have the available to us cell phone tracking. The owner of the cell phone has to authorise to be tracked, but then any member of the family can find out where that phone is. This is great for keeping track of loved ones. Why is this facility not available in the US?The cost is very small only a couple of dollars to register and then 50c per track.
Comment by Ken Knowles | September 30, 2007