News from around the county Pensioner, 73, survives three nights in ditch
A missing pensioner was just two hours from death after surviving three nights in a roadside ditch in sub-zero temperatures.
Paulina Manfredini, 73, was discovered hidden from view on the side of the A2 on Tuesday afternoon – more than 60 hours after she was reported missing from her Canterbury home.
It is believed undergrowth had provided her some warmth as temperatures dropped to -1C on all three nights.
She was found by a police dog called Dexter after a reported sighting refocused the search effort on the A2 London Road in Faversham.
But Kent Search and Rescue’s James Dunn said she was almost missed.
“As the police walked towards another search area, the dog pulled the officer towards something,” he said.
Suffering severely from hypothermia, Mrs Manfredini was taken to hospital, where she is said to be stable and conscious and on the road to recovery.
Police said she was thought to have been two hours from death.
Mr Dunn added: “She had managed to find shelter with undergrowth in a ditch by the road.”
Mrs Manfredini had only been wearing a brown bomber-style jacket and a skirt over black leggings when she disappeared.
The huge search for her began on Saturday evening when she was reported missing around 8.13pm.
She had not used her bank card or accounts and had no mobile phone for police to track her location, but detectives discovered she had been captured on CCTV at the Gate Services off the A2 near Dunkirk at 2.45pm. A member of the public then contacted police to say they believed she had been on the A2 towards Sittingbourne.