UNT student stranded near Grand Canyon for 5 days

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona authorities say a 24-year-old Texas woman – later identified as a University of North Texas student named Amber VanHecke – spent five days stranded in a remote area of northern Arizona before she was rescued on Friday.

The state Department of Public Safety says the woman was driving near the south rim of the Grand Canyon when her car ran out of gas.

The woman had no cell phone signal but eventually walked a place where she could call 911 after five days of being stranded.

DPS says the call dropped before police could identify her location but that they were able to spot her abandoned car using a search helicopter. The woman had left notes detailing where she was headed in search of cell phone signal.

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Police say the woman was prepared with enough food but was running out of water the day she was found.