PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. — A 74-year-old missing woman was found alive two days after she disappeared while on a hike with her dog northwest of Aspen, the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday evening.
Just before 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, a person told a Pitkin County Sheriff's Office deputy that their family member, 74-year-old Jennifer Hearn, went on a hike on Triangle Peak off Upper River Road on Sunday around 11 a.m. but had not yet returned. The person said Hearn brought her 3-year-old dog, a brown Irish setter named Tawny, with her, according to the sheriff's office.
After the initial report, a team of volunteers from Mountain Rescue Aspen (MRA) went to the Triangle Peak trailhead to search the area. They concluded the search around 2:40 a.m. due to a lack of light.
Roughly 30 members of MRA, one helicopter from Flight for Life, one fixed-wing aircraft from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control, and one dog and handler team from Search and Rescue Dogs of the United States (SARDUS) continued the search Monday at 8:17 a.m. The crews focused on Triangle Peak and the surrounding areas. The search concluded sometime Monday evening and resumed Tuesday at 8 a.m.
On Tuesday, crews focused on the scree fields and thick brush between the search paths from the previous day, according to the sheriff's office. The search teams found Jennifer's dog, Tawny, at a residence near Triangle Peak around 9:30 a.m. The crews then narrowed their search to the steep rock-covered hillsides overlooking the Woody Creek area, the sheriff's office said.
Hearn was found alive around 3:15 p.m., the sheriff's office said. She is receiving medical care. The sheriff's office did not share details of her condition and is asking the public to "give friends and family the space that they need at this time to recover and care for Jennifer."
