DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – New details were released Wednesday in connection with a woman who was rescued Tuesday morning from a storm drain in Delray Beach.
According to a police report, Lyndsey Jane Kennedy, 43, of Delray Beach, who was naked when she was found, told officers that she went for a swim in a canal near her boyfriend’s house in West Delray Beach on March 3 – the day he reported her missing to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Police said she told them she had been swimming when she came across a doorway near the shallow part of the canal, and she became curious and wondered where the tunnel led to.
Kennedy apparently traveled through the tunnel, which “led to another tunnel and so on until she realized that she was lost,” the report stated.
Kennedy told police that she had been walking around the sewer system for about three weeks before she saw some light and decided to sit in an area where she could see people walking past her.
On Tuesday morning, she yelled out to a passerby who then saw her in the storm drain and called police.
Despite the bizarre story, officers said Kennedy appeared “very lucid” and did not meet the criteria to be hospitalized under Florida’s Baker Act, although officers requested a mental health assessment be taken at Delray Medical Center, where Kennedy was transported to.
Police said Kennedy was also treated for superficial wounds, such as scrapes on her knees.
According to the police report, officers contacted Kennedy’s mother, who told them her daughter has a history of mental illness and is a frequent user of illegal narcotics.
“She also stated that Kennedy has a history of doing odd things and making bad decisions when she is high on drugs,” the report stated.