Missing Minnesota Woman, 68, Found Alive After Days Stuck in Mud Puddle
Kathryn Woessner, 68, of Alexandria, Minnesota, was found alive on June 6 after spending approximately three days nearly submerged in a muddy puddle roughly 80 miles from her home. She had been reported missing since June 3, when she was last seen near the intersection of Highway 64 and Highway 87 in southern Hubbard County, driving a black 2015 Chrysler Town & Country. Two off-road vehicle riders discovered her van stuck in a muddy area and then noticed Woessner herself almost entirely submerged, prompting her rescue and hospitalization.
Kathryn Jane Woessner, a 68-year-old woman from Alexandria, Minnesota, was rescued on June 6, 2026, after being trapped in a mud puddle for approximately three days west of Backus, Minnesota — around 80 miles from her home. She had been reported missing and was last seen on June 3 near the intersection of Highway 64 and Highway 87 in southern Hubbard County, where a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Endangered Missing Person Alert had been issued. Adam Sandbeck and Mike Gravalin were riding an off-road vehicle on trails near Backus and Hackensack when they spotted Woessner's van stuck in a muddy area and then noticed what appeared to be a body in a puddle beside it. Only the round part of her face — her mouth and lips — was visible above the mud, and she whispered 'Help me' to her rescuers. Woessner told the men her car had become stuck and she had slipped and fallen into the puddle, which she described as being like quicksand, while trying to free it. She had been lying on her back for days with no personal belongings and had sustained serious sunburn to her face. She was transported to Essentia Health–St. Joseph's Medical Center in Brainerd due to her medical conditions.
What's missing
It is not reported how Woessner came to be approximately 80 miles from her home in Alexandria, what her pre-existing medical conditions were, or what her condition was at the time of hospital admission beyond the noted sunburn and the need for medical care.
How coverage differed
ABC News and NBC News covered the story with largely consistent facts; ABC placed slightly more emphasis on Woessner's physical condition and the rescuers' firsthand account to KSTP, while NBC provided additional geographic detail — noting she was found roughly 80 miles from her home — and included a more vivid direct quote from rescuer Adam Sandbeck.
What different sources said
Missing woman found alive after being stuck in mud puddle for days
- NBC NewsLeft
Missing Minnesota woman found stuck in mud after 3 days
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