HAMILTON, Ontario — A Canadian woman who went missing during a blizzard has been found alive, buried in 23 inches of snow four days after her sport utility vehicle got stuck in a snowy field.
A police search dog and its handler were trudging through almost knee-high snow on Monday when the dog took off across a field, signaling he had found Donna Molnar, who disappeared Friday.
Overnight temperatures dipped as low as 2 degrees during the four days the 55-year-old woman Ancaster, Ontario, woman was missing.
“When I came up to her she was covered in snow, just her face and her neckline was exposed,” said the handler, Ray Lau. “I was surprised she was alive.”
Lau found Molnar just a few hundred yards away from her SUV, conscious and wearing little more than a winter jacket. Police credited the snow’s insulating effect with keeping her alive.
“That’s the miracle. That’s a Christmas miracle. Sometimes the good don’t die young. Donna Molnar is an exceptional person,” said Mark Mackesy, a family friend who spent the weekend comforting Molnar’s husband and son.
Staff Sgt. Mark Cox said she is in danger of losing some extremities to frostbite, though she is expected to survive.
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