A woman trapped in mud rescued after three harrowing days in the Minnesota woods has become an extraordinary story of survival, faith, and the kind of coincidence that’s hard to explain. A 68-year-old grandmother who had been missing since early June was found alive, lying on her back and nearly submerged in a mud puddle that her rescuers described as acting “like quicksand.”

A Chilling Discovery

Kathryn Woessner, of Alexandria, Minnesota, was discovered on June 6 by two ATV riders who first noticed her van sitting in the middle of a remote wooded trail, then spotted her on the ground nearby.

What they saw next was almost too disturbing to process. “All you could see was just the round part of her face, like her mouth, her lips. You couldn’t even see her ears. It was all submerged,” Adam Sandbeck, one of the men who found her, told local news station KARE 11. HuffPost

At first, the men feared the worst — that they had stumbled upon a body. Then came a moment that turned dread into urgency. As Sandbeck recounted, the woman whispered, “Help me,” a sound that stopped him cold and made clear she was somehow still alive.

The Trail They Almost Didn’t Take

The rescue hinged on a series of small, unplanned decisions. Sandbeck and his friend Mike Gravalin, who have been riding ATVs through the woods east of Park Rapids for about a decade, normally stick to the same familiar routes. On that Saturday afternoon, they did almost everything differently.

Running low on gas, the two friends went looking for a shortcut and ended up on an unmarked, pothole-riddled trail they wouldn’t otherwise have traveled. About three-quarters of a mile in, they rounded a corner and came upon the stranded minivan.

For Sandbeck, the timing felt like more than luck. As he put it, they changed everything that day for some reason, and to him it simply had to be God. The men later reflected that they could easily have missed her altogether had they brought two vehicles or chosen a different path.

Days Stuck in the Mud

Once they pulled Woessner free and called 911, the full scope of her ordeal began to emerge. She had been stuck on her back since Wednesday, waiting and hoping for someone to come along.

The conditions she endured were brutal:

• She was severely sunburned across her face after days exposed to the elements.
• She was badly dehydrated by the time she was found.
• Temperatures had climbed to around 90 degrees, while an overnight storm dumped heavy rain that raised the water level around her.

Woessner explained to her rescuers how she had become trapped. After her van got stuck, she climbed out and walked around to the other side, only to slip and fall into a puddle estimated at roughly two feet deep. The mud gripped her like quicksand, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pull herself free. Gravalin later said he could only imagine the terror she must have felt as the water crept up around her.

Far From Home and Still a Mystery

One of the most puzzling aspects of the case is how Woessner ended up where she did. She was found roughly 100 miles from her Alexandria home, on an isolated trail in rural Cass County near Backus.

According to authorities, she had been reported missing on June 3, with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office issuing an endangered missing person alert that cited a medical condition raising concerns for her safety. She was last seen in Hubbard County, only a few miles from where she eventually became trapped. Investigators across multiple counties have continued working to piece together her movements and understand how she came to be so far from home.

A Hopeful Recovery

After being lifted from the mud, Woessner was placed on a stretcher by volunteer firefighters and first responders and taken to a hospital in Brainerd for treatment.

The most heartening part of the story is how it ended. One of the men who found her later spoke with Woessner by phone and was even sent a photo of her smiling from her hospital bed. She told him she was on her way to a full recovery.

A Reminder for the Outdoors

Beyond the remarkable rescue, the episode carries a practical lesson about venturing into remote terrain. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources notes that telling someone your route before heading out, carrying communication tools, and being prepared can make all the difference when something goes wrong far from help.

In Woessner’s case, survival came down to two friends, a wrong turn that turned out right, and a faint cry for help that reached them just in time.