Traute Rankin survived by eating granola bars and drinking from discarded soda bottles

Jun 4, 2014 14:39 GMT  ·  By

An elderly woman who went missing more than a month ago has been found safe at the edge of a parking lot in Leesburg, Florida.

Traute Rankin was reported missing on May 2 and survived for nearly a month in a Florida wood, by eating granola bars and drinking from discarded soda bottles, Daily Mail reports. She was finally found on Saturday after an extensive search mission involving police, deputies, cadaver dogs and community volunteers.

It is thought that the 74-year-old woman, who was suffering from paranoia and dementia, collapsed by a road while she was trying to find water. When she was spotted in the bushes behind a Walmart on Citrus Boulevard in Leesburg, Traute was severely dehydrated, dirty and a little confused, but appeared to be in good health, police said.

She was transported to Leesburg Regional Medical Center by Lake EMS for a detailed medical evaluation. Her family said she is now being treated at the hospital for dehydration and bug bites.

Rankin's daughter, Renee Shelley, said she was in the process of moving to Central Florida from South Carolina when her mother went missing and hadn't seen her since April 27. She also told officers that her mother suffered from mental health issues that had probably caused her to become frightened and leave her home.

Apparently, the elderly woman camped out in the woods for the entire month and even improvised a shelter for herself using a blanket spread out under a palm tree. She reportedly survived on granola bars, rain water and leftover soda she found along a nearby road.

“When she couldn't find anymore of those, she tried to walk to Walmart, but she was so dehydrated, she collapsed before she got there,” her daughter said.

Mrs. Shelley thinks her mother decided to stay in the woods because she became too scared to return home, but that she knew in her mind that someone was looking for her.

Police are now trying to find out more details about her whereabouts during the past month, but they don’t suspect foul play in her disappearance.

“It was obvious that she was out exposed to the weather conditions for at least a couple of days, but she didn't look homeless,” Sgt. Scott Mack of the Leesburg Police Department told the Orlando Sentinel.

Rankin's family asked for privacy while awaiting more information from police.