Late Friday, two people walking in Big Sur noticed the SUV wreckage at the bottom of a cliff, Thornburg said. They went back to their campsite and called 911, he said.

Thornburg said the vehicle landed 200-250 feet down the cliff and was partially submerged. Hernandez may have been able to get out of the SUV, but was stuck in the rocky, inaccessible spot, he said.

He didn’t say if Hernandez had any food, but said she survived by using the radiator hose from the vehicle to divert water from a nearby creek.