Paula Lane's brother found her Wednesday night in Alpine County. Deputies say she and Roderick Clifton went off road after leaving Sacramento last Thursday, to try out his new four-wheel drive Jeep. Then the storms hit and they got stuck in the snow.
Clifton left the car to find help. When he didn't return after a few days, Lane set out on her own. Official search crews couldn't find them, so her brother started looking on his own.
"And last night when my brother called, I took the call, and to hear him say 'I found her, I found her'... I can't explain it for you guys," said Linda Hathaway, Lane's sister.
Lane survived by taking shelter in a hollow tree, and eating snow and tomatoes she had gotten from relatives.
Deputies say Clifton drove around a locked gate on a closed dirt road off Highway 89.