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Woman, 74, Missing After Getting Separated from Family While Mushroom Picking in Calif. Woods

Woman, 74, Missing After Getting Separated from Family While Hunting Mushroom in Calif. Woods
Woman, 74, Missing After Getting Separated from Family While Hunting Mushroom in Calif. Woods

Del Norte County Sheriff’s Office

Although authorities were able to find and rescue her daughter, a 74-year-old woman who got separated from family while mushroom picking in California remains missing.

The woman, whose name has not been released by authorities, was out foraging for mushrooms on Friday with her husband and adult daughter near French Hill Road in Gasquet, according to ABC affiliate KRCR-TV.

Around 8:00 p.m. that night, her husband arrived at the Gasquet Ranger Station "and reported that he had been separated from his wife and daughter in the woods," Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said in a statement, per the outlet.

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Afterwards officials "did a preliminary search" of the area, which the sheriff described as "brushy and steep," according to the Lost Coast Outpost.

The following morning, the U.S. Coast Guard was contacted by the sheriff's office for help locating two missing hikers near Smith River, the Coast Guard said in a press release.

Using their helicopter, officials "were able to locate the adult daughter," Scott told the Lost Coast Outpost. "But we're still looking for her mother."

The Del Norte County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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After being rescued, the woman's daughter was treated for mild hypothermia at a local hospital and was released on Monday, according to the Wild Rivers Outpost. 

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The Coast Guard said they continued searching the area where the woman's daughter was found until around 6:00 p.m. on Saturday night. Search efforts continued on Sunday and Monday as well.

Although she has not been formally identified, Scott told the Wild Rivers Outpost the missing woman is of Asian descent, around 5 feet 5 inches tall, and weighs about 160 lbs. She was last seen wearing a green rain jacket and pink pants and that she also had a black dog with her.

"We did recover the dog's leash," Scott told the outlet on Monday morning. The following day, the dog was found alive.

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As of Monday evening, the sheriff said that around 100 people have helped with search efforts, including several family members from overseas.

"She's definitely going to be extremely fatigued and at this point," the sheriff told the outlet, adding that she likely "would not be very mobile at all because of the elements she's been in."

According to the outlet, temperatures in the area have been below freezing.

"Weather conditions have changed drastically throughout this period," Del Norte County Search and Rescue wrote in a social media post on Monday, noting that's made searching the already "difficult terrain" more challenging.

"If you encounter any search teams traversing the area, please accommodate their routes and slow down while passing in motorized vehicles," they added.