May 19, 2025
The woman endured snow storms and harmful animals as she fought for her life.
A Black woman who went missing and survived for weeks in the California wilderness is finally speaking out about her experience.
According to ABC News, Tiffany Slayton was first reported missing on April 29. While the 28-year-old loves outdoor activities, she never expected her trip in Fresno to end in struggle. A considerate resort owner luckily found the millennial alive on May 14 after a three-week search.
She told reporters during a press conference on May 16 about her three-day camping trip gone wrong.
“I may never do a vacation longer than three days ever again,” she said during the meeting.
Slayton relied on her survival instincts to get through the California mountains. Slayton, originally from Jeffersonville, Georgia, raised alarms for her parents when they had not heard from her in over a week.
An serious fall off of a cliff led her to survival mode for almost a month. The fall knocked her unconscious for hours and left her with serious leg injuries. She recalled having to splint one of her legs while popping her knee back in place in order to move.
Despite always loving nature, she now holds an even deeper respect for the outdoors. She called nature “quite terrifying” to maneuver when put in more precarious conditions.
“Nature is quite terrifying. Once you start finding things that are scary for you, you do your best to keep moving and get over it,” added the trained horticulturist.
Additional obstacles, such as a recent avalanche blocking access to the main road and virtually no cell signal, resulted in her extended delay in returning to civilization. Through her experience, she endured harmful animals, snow storms, and arduous hikes.
Living off leeks and boiled snow, her survival is a testimony to her own strength, resilience, and knowledge to make it off limited supplies. While she initially started with sleeping bags and a bicycle, Slayton could only hold a lighter and a knife through the end.
After a days-long search effort spanning 600 miles yielded no results, Slayton’s parents nearly gave up hope. However, the woman stumbled upon an open cabin at a Lake Edison resort. The resort’s owner intentionally left the home accessible in case of an emergency like hers.
“[I] left a cabin unlocked as a precaution for this exact situation where someone who is lost could seek shelter and increase their chances of surviving the outdoor elements and harsh weather,” explained the cabin’s owner Christopher Gutierrez.
He added, “As soon as I saw her, she didn’t say a word, just ran up and all she wanted was a hug. It was a pretty surreal moment.”
Slayton lost 10 pounds and endured eye damage, covered by sunglasses at the press conference. Despite this, Slayton remains in relatively good health, including “perfect” bloodwork, given the circumstances.
Now, Slayton can return to her Georgia hometown with her family. She journaled throughout her three-week struggle and hopes to reflect on those documents as she recovers.
RELATED CONTENT: Guyana’s President Demands Answers After 11-Year-Old Girl Found Dead In Hotel Pool
