A missing San Diego woman has died hours after she was rescued from an underground storm drain system - but police still don’t know what led her there.
Police had been searching for Yafang Zhou, 50, for two weeks after she disappeared from the home she shared with her husband on March 25, according to NBC San Diego. Crews rescued her after police heard a voice coming from underneath a manhole cover on Monday.
The voice was Zhou’s, and, after an extensive rescue operation, emergency crews pulled her up in serious condition Monday. She died hours later.
“What she was doing in there, what drove her in there, how she came to be in there — we are unclear,” San Diego Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Erik Windsor told NBC San Diego. “It is very unusual to have someone in there.”
The San Diego Police Department confirmed her death in a statement to People but declined to provide further information.
"We can confirm Yafang Zhou passed away,” a department spokesperson said. “The family has specifically asked for privacy so out of respect for the family we are not going to be providing any additional details at this time."
Zhou was first reported missing to police on April 3, and flyers posted said she was last seen near the home she shared with her husband in downtown San Diego, NBC San Diego reports.
The rescue mission began when detectives were searching the area and heard her voice coming from a storm drain early Monday.
San Diego urban search and rescue team members, along with Poway fire crews, entered the storm system to search for Zhou after they arrived on the scene.
But they weren’t successful at first, according to NBC San Diego.
“Firefighters were literally inside the…storm drain, crawling on their stomachs to try to locate the victim,” Windsor said.
“When we go in a confined space, we’re worried about all sorts of gases, limited oxygen, what’s going on in the confined space that are environmentally dangerous to them,” he added. “There are also animals in those confined spaces.”
Eventually, rescuers found Zhou by opening manhole covers throughout the area. They set up a system of ropes and pulleys to bring her to the surface, and she finally emerged around 2:30 p.m.
Crews took her to the hospital, where providers attempted “live-saving measures” before she died, NBC San Diego reports.
“It is very amazing that we were able to extricate her and get her going to the hospital,” Windsor said.
Homeland Security waiver allows feds to bypass environmental rules to build border wall
Prague Zoo joins the effort to ensure the survival of a rare insect once considered extinct
More homes for sale and easing rates favor homebuyers this spring, but affordability hurdles remain
Storms tore up two of America's most iconic trails. Federal cuts have disrupted repairs
Jet Set nightclub disaster: death toll reaches 124 as hopes fade for survivors
Trade war latest: Trump announces 90-day tariffs pause for some countries
