Searchers find missing elderly woman alive in Kazlų Rūda forests

A 74-year-old woman who went missing in the forests near Kazlų Rūda on Sunday has been found alive, LRT.lt reported on Thursday. Soldiers from the Grand Duchess Birutė Uhlan Battalion located her after several days of searches involving police officers, volunteers and soldiers.

The woman had left her home in the village of Papilvys to pick berries and did not return. She was found about 2.3 kilometres from where she had disappeared, in a densely overgrown part of the forest that was difficult to search.

Medics examined the woman at the scene. She recognised her relatives and was able to speak with them.

“Four days, and the berries probably saved her,” Mantas Kazlauskas, coordinator of volunteers at the Lithuanian Red Cross Crisis and Emergency Management Department, told LRT.lt.

He said the search was carried out methodically, with teams checking all areas despite the difficult terrain. A drone had been used, but the tree cover prevented it from locating the woman.

The search involved large numbers of Public Security Service officers, police teams, Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union volunteers and Red Cross volunteers. A helicopter operated by the State Border Guard Service, police and privately hired drones, including one equipped with thermal imaging, and specially trained search dogs were also deployed.

Forest workers and hunting clubs were alerted, while footage from cameras installed in the forests was checked.

The Marijampolė police and the Lithuanian Armed Forces thanked all officers and volunteers who took part in the search. Volunteers from the K9 Search organisation said their dogs had indicated a direction that later led searchers to the woman.