Missing Yoga Teacher Rescued After Two Weeks in Maui Forest

(Bloomberg) -- A Maui woman reported missing for over two weeks after she failed to return from a hike in the Makawao Forest Reserve in Hawaii has been found alive and air-lifted to safety.

Amanda Eller, 35, was found injured, apparently not seriously, late on Friday in the forest above the island’s Twin Falls, “between two waterfalls down a deep ravine in a creek bed,” according to a post on a Facebook page set up to find her.

Lead searchers Chris Berquist and Javier Cantellops spotted the missing physical therapist and yoga instructor during a helicopter search.

A Facebook page, Findamanda, included regular updates on the search for Eller dating to when she was reported missing on May 9.

Maui’s Search Rescue didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment. John Eller, the hiker’s father, said that his daughter “took a good fall” and got lost trying to make her way out of the area, according to a video posted by the Maui 24/7 Facebook page.

“She was smart, she was strong, she was prepared. We said that at the beginning and it was absolutely true,” Eller said on the video.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maria Jose Valero in New York at mvalero3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Clementine Fletcher at cfletcher5@bloomberg.net, Ian Fisher, Ros Krasny

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