TUJUNGA : Lost Woman Hiker Found After Week

A 19-year-old Tujunga woman missing for a week was found injured and dehydrated Wednesday morning by a couple hiking around Eaton Canyon Falls near Mount Wilson, sheriff’s officials said.

Jennifer Griffin, who suffered a broken right wrist along with scrapes and bruises, was flown to St. Luke Medical Center in Pasadena, where she was in stable condition, spokeswoman Kathi Sankey said.

“Last Wednesday, she was hiking by herself in the night,” Sankey said. “She remembers falling--falling twice--being disoriented and being unconscious.”

Sheriff’s deputies believe she went without food for the whole week. Griffin had “no shoes, no jacket, no nothing,” said Sgt. Leo Norton of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Department in La Crescenta. When found, she was unclothed, he said.

The woman was last seen Sept. 22 at 7:30 a.m. by her roommate, said Detective Raynette Sincosky of the Los Angeles Police Department’s missing persons unit.

“Her roommate said she was going out and didn’t return,” Sincosky said.

Griffin’s mother, Melanie Underwood of La Crescenta, reported her daughter missing to police two days later, on Sept. 24.

Police had no leads in the case until around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, when a man told sheriff’s officials he had spotted an abandoned car parked near Mount Wilson at Video Road and Mount Wilson Circle, Norton said. The car was registered to Griffin.

Just as a search got under way, Andreas Weyermann, 36, of Altadena called deputies and reported that he and his wife discovered a woman matching Griffin’s description at Eaton Canyon Falls. The couple had been hiking in the remote brush-covered area 10 miles from where he car was found.

Griffin was rescued at 12:55 p.m. and brought to the Robert M. McCurdy Nature Center before being flown to the hospital. During questioning by a deputy, she was disoriented and unable to answer any questions, Norton said.

St. Luke spokeswoman Sankey said Griffin “went up to think” on the night she hiked alone. Griffin’s mother declined to comment.