Couple Hears Screaming, Finds Woman Trapped In Car For 2 Days

A Utah woman who survived two days trapped in a mangled car is expected to make a full recovery after a couple who stopped at a scenic overlook heard her cries for help.

Spencer Dryden and Cleo Jackson were driving through American Fork Canyon, southwest of Salt Lake City, Thursday when they stopped to take photos. They heard a woman's voice calling out, KHQA reported.

"Do you really need help?" Dryden yelled into the woods below.

"Yes, I need emergency help," a woman said. "Call 911 right now."

Dryden, 20, traversed down a steep mountainside until he found the injured woman who had been trapped in her crushed car for two days, he told The Associated Press. Meanwhile, his girlfriend drove down the mountain to get cell phone reception and call for help.

Authorities later learned that Heather Blackwelder, 29, from Highland, plunged several hundred feet when her car veered off the steep and winding mountain road.

"This woman is lucky to be alive from the crash in the first place," Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office told The Daily Herald.

Dryden found Blackwelder dirty, covered in dried blood and unable to move her arm or legs. She complained of back pain. The entire car was smashed -- except the driver's seat where Blackwelder was trapped, Dryden told the AP. He figured she had been there a couple of hours, until she told him it had been two days.

Blackwelder suffered two broken legs as well as injuries to her neck and arms. She is expected to recover.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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