FRESNO, Calif. — A former Modesto elementary school teacher who has been missing for nearly three weeks has been found safe.
The Merced County Sheriff's Department said Friday that Jaime Tull was located and would be reunited with her family, but the department did not go into detail on Tull's condition.
The 33-year-old was last seen on July 17 after getting in a car accident in the area of Cunningham Road and Childs Avenue of Merced County. She walked away from the scene and had not been seen since. Authorities say she survived by eating bugs and drinking from a cattle trough. Searchers found her less than a mile away.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke says Tull didn't want to be found. A search team located her Friday in wide open grazing land north of Fresno. Warnke added she's malnourished and badly sunburned after enduring a scorching summer heatwave with no shelter.
Tull was a teacher at Woodrow Elementary School for the 2016-2017 school year, but resigned this summer.
Warnke says Tull told rescuers she wanted some food but then to be left alone. She was taken to a hospital for treatment and is expected to recover.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
