Missing hiker found safe after surviving weeks in snowy California mountains

Tiffany Slaton when she was rescued in Fresno County, California, after being reported missing in the High Sierra for three weeks (Fresno County Sheriff’s Office via AP)

When the Vermilion Valley Resort in California’s eastern Sierra shut down for the winter, the staff left cabin doors unlocked just in case a wayward hiker needed shelter during the frequent mountain snowstorms.

That decision may have saved the life of Tiffany Slaton, a 27-year-old Georgia woman who was missing for nearly three weeks in remote wilderness.