THE FORKS, Maine — A Fairfield woman who unexpectedly spent the night Sunday in the Maine woods was found uninjured Monday, save for a few bruises.
Erica LaChance, 29, was located by a searcher at 8:30 a.m. near the intersection of the Kennebec River and Moxie Stream near The Forks, according to Maine Warden Service Cpl. John MacDonald.
A West Forks Fire Department search team located LaChance after she responded to a whistle blow, MacDonald said.
LaChance had been hiking with three friends near Moxie Falls Sunday afternoon when she apparently took an unfamiliar trail and became lost shortly after 4:00 p.m., according to MacDonald.
Her friends contacted the Warden Service after searching for three hours, and a canine search for LaChance ensued well into the night, the corporal said.
Upon finding LaChance, game wardens learned she had swum across Moxie Stream and spent the night along the east shore of the Kennebec River.
MacDonald said a Warden Service aircraft was deployed at daylight Monday, along with several other canine teams and searchers from the Maine Association of Search and Rescue, Maine Search and Rescue Dogs, the West Forks Fire Department and LaChance’s friends and family.
