Homeless woman searching for boyfriend’s camp site got lost in North Carolina forest

A homeless woman looking in the early morning dark for her boyfriend’s camp site got lost in a thick Lincoln County forest, prompting a search by emergency crews equipped with thermal-imaging drones.

The woman, who officials say is homeless, was searching for the camp site with another woman around 2:30 a.m., Friday when she “became too exhausted to continue,” according to a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office news release. Her companion left the woods and called for help, investigators said.

A group of responders known as the Lincoln County Land Search Team was called to the scene around 3:30 a.m. Along with deputies, Lincolnton firefighters and Lincoln County EMS, they combed the woods off Salem Church Road, behind Risen Church.

Sheriff’s Office deputies Lt. J. Frye and Sgt. T. Carpenter soon found the woman after beginning their search near where her companion walked from the woods. She had reunited with her boyfriend. Neither woman was hurt, investigators said.