Woman found safe in wilderness area

A woman who became lost in the Bald Knob Wilderness Area near Alto Pass was found safe and uninjured Monday afternoon.

A search for the woman also led to a Southern Illinois man being cited for possession of methamphetamine, Union County Sheriff David Livesay reported.

The woman was in a group of four people, all from Murphysboro, who went camping in the wilderness area over the weekend.

The group was made up of the woman, a man and two young men.

The woman apparently left the group’s campsite early Sunday afternoon and became lost.

She spent the night in the area and eventually was found by searchers at about 2 p.m. Monday. The woman was found about a mile and a half from a trail in the wilderness area.

The sheriff said the woman was mildly dehydrated, cold, tired and scared. She refused medical treatment.

The man who was in the group was cited for possession of methamphetamine. He was transported to the Tri-County Detention Center at Ullin.

The Union County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Forest Service and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources were involved in the search for the missing woman.

The sheriff noted that last weekend’s incident marked the third time since September that someone had gotten lost in the wilderness area.