Woman found alive after nights stranded in forest

A Pennsylvania mother who trekked about 26 miles in snowy northern Arizona was found alive early Saturday after spending two nights in the forest while searching for help.

Karen Klein, 47, her husband and their 10-year-old son got stranded in the snow along a forest service road while trying to reach the North Rim of the Grand Canyon Thursday after visiting southern Utah.

Access to the North Rim along State Route 67 is closed in the winter and the family’s GPS system detoured them onto a forest service road where their rental vehicle broke down, authorities said.

Klein, carrying food and water, attempted to search for help and would spend two nights stranded as snow continued to fall.

On Friday, Klein’s family was discovered by a Bureau of Land Management ranger after her husband hiked to an area where they found cell phone service to call for help.

They were treated for frostbite, authorities said.

Searchers with the Coconino County and Kane County sheriff’s offices combed the 12-mile area surrounding DeMotte Park in the hopes of finding the 47-year-old mother and came across remnants of footprints along a forest service road.

Klein was found nearly 26 miles from the vehicle inside a guard shack at the North Rim’s gates at midnight Saturday.

She was described by authorities as conscious and communicative when found but suffered from cold exposure and was transported to a hospital in Kane County, Utah.