DELRAY BEACH, Fla. ā A South Florida woman is recovering in the hospital after she was found naked and stuck in a storm drain.
The woman, identified as Lyndsey Kennedy, was reported missing nearly three weeks ago by her boyfriend, according to a police report.
āThis was by far one of the most bizarre incidents that our officers have responded to,ā said Delray Beach Police Department Public Information Officer Ted White.
Images show Delray Beach police and firefighters surrounding a storm drain near the intersection of Atlantic Blvd. and Southwest 11th Avenue early Tuesday after someone heard what sounded like a womanās voice down below.
āA passerby heard something coming from the storm drain,ā said Dani Moschella with Delray Beach Fire Rescue. āShe heard a woman yelling.ā
LISTEN: Authorities release 9-1-1 calls after woman is found in storm drain:
When first responders arrived, they discovered Kennedy trapped eight feet below the roadway.
āThey did in fact, to their surprise, find a woman stuck in that storm drain,ā said Moschella.
Delray Beach Fireās Special Operations Team was able to remove the storm grate, lower down a ladder and hoist Kennedy up.
āShe was unable to stand up,ā Moschella said. āShe didnāt have any clothes on. She was very dirty. She had some superficial wounds. Her knees were all scraped up.ā
After she was rescued, Kennedy told detectives sheād gone swimming in a canal near her boyfriendās home. She came across a doorway in that canal, which led to a tunnel, which she followed and followed, crawling and squirming for day, until she ended up at the storm grate where she was rescued.
āIt appears she may have been in that storm drain for at least a couple of days, perhaps longer,ā White said.
Kennedy was taken to Delray Medical Center to be treated for her injuries and to check on her health.
While police said there are still many unanswered questions, they are just fortunate a woman found in an area no human should be was found alive.
āTo think of a person down there for any amount of time, it is terrifying,ā Moschella said.
Delray Beach police believe the woman may have disappeared March 3. Thatās when she was reported missing.
They are currently working on confirming that information with investigators.
āFor her to say she was in the storm drain system for weeks is kind of hard to believe,ā White said. āWeāre trying to piece this story together to find out what is fact and what is not fact.ā