Watch CBS News

Missing 24-Year-Old Brittany Omstead Found Alive

By: KDKA-TV News Staff

CLEARFIELD TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - Police and searchers were still on scene when Brittany Omstead walked out of the woods near her home.

She wasn't able to talk much and had been missing for the past 24-plus hours.

Family, friends, even strangers, were looking for her and they certainly feared the worst.

However, it was a happy ending and Maria Omstead-Wagner is ecstatic her daughter Brittany is alive.

"I'm so happy, I'm so thankful to God and everybody who was praying for her and searching for her," Omstead-Wagner said.

Brittany's mom said that around 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night, Brittany, disoriented and dehydrated, walked out of the woods near her home in Clearfield Township in Butler County.

After walking out of the woods, she was put into an ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital to be evaluated.

"I'm hugging her, she is still very loopy, I don't know what happened to her," Omstead-Wagner recalled. "She's very lethargic, very tired."

Omstead-Wagner reported her daughter missing after she got a call that Brittany hadn't shown up at her best friend's wedding rehearsal.

After checking her home, Maria found Brittany's wallet, cell phone, and truck keys in her bedroom.

The truck was still in the driveway.

Brittany's ex-boyfriend Eric Drake was also still at the home. He lives with Brittany.

Police then searched the home, took other evidence including her truck and cellphone, and then questioned Drake.

Saturday morning, a massive search began near Drake's family farm close to Morraine State Park.

Once the police left, family, friends, and even strangers on horseback, quads, and on foot searched the property.

That search continued around Brittany's home through the night.

Her mom had left for the night...and then got a call she'll never forget.

"She called me back screaming," Omstead-Wagner recalled. "She is alive, she heard she was alive. I said I'm not there, and I just got in my car and came here. We don't know what happened, what's wrong, but as long as she's alive, we can do the rest."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.