(WXYZ) — "It feels like needles going in your face as you're going through the corn at a high rate of speed with the dog," said Michigan State Police Trooper Jeff Schrieber, describing the grueling search for a missing Livingston County woman who had been involved in a crash Sunday.
Family members located the woman's vehicle on Monday. It appeared she crashed into a tree.
"There was blood on the steering wheel and on the passenger seat. So, I am guessing she was knocked out and then woke up disoriented," said the sister of the crash victim.
Members of the Livingston County Sheriff's Office said they were unable to locate the woman.
On Tuesday, the sister of the crash victim said she reached out to Michigan State Police for help.
Several K-9 teams arrived including Trooper Schrieber and his four-year-old German Shepherd partner, Woodson.
The nine-hour search took place in and around 200 acres of fields of tall, dense corn.
"I've been doing this so long, you make contact with the family, you feel for them, and you know that you're just trying to have a good outcome," said Schrieber who's been with MSP for 23 years.
And K-9 Woodson has a couple of specialties including finding people.
"He goes for any human that's in that area," the trooper said.
Then just as bad weather was rolling in, Woodson began pulling even harder.
"I was in the middle of the cornfield still and he proceeded to pull me about 75 yards in the right direction," Schrieber told 7 Action News.
Woodson had located the missing woman.
"She was unresponsive when I first came up to her," Schrieber said. "I was able to get her awake. I actually radioed it all to the other troopers to respond out, at which time they brought her some water or tried to get her to drink just a little bit to get her hydrated. One trooper ripped off his shirt to try to get her warm due to her extreme hypothermia."
And because of the swampy area and rough terrain, the troopers had to carry the victim a couple hundred yards to a waiting EMS rig.
"We knew she didn't have much longer in order to live," Schrieber said.
The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital where she continues to recover.
Her family is just thankful. The woman's sister said doctors told them that she probably would not have survived another two hours.
"I'm just so grateful. He told us.. he goes, I promise you, I will find her."
