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Update: Hiker Who Went Missing In Ringwood State Park Found In Rockland

UPDATE: A 63-year-old hiker from Wayne who'd gone missing in Ringwood State Park was found a few miles away the next day across the state line in Rockland County, authorities said.

Carol Heimbach was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern after she was located in Sloatsburg around 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 4.

Carol Heimbach was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern after she was located in Sloatsburg around 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 4.

 Photo Credit: NJ State Park PD (both)
Jerry DeMarco

Police say they can thank Ring and Facebook.

Carol Fumiko Heimbach was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern after she was located in Sloatsburg around 1:30 p.m. Monday, March 4, said Caryn Shinske, the senior press officer for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

She was none the worse for wear, although still a bit disoriented from a night in the woods, responders said.

Heimback, who reportedly works as a guide at the Laurelwood Arboretum in Wayne, reportedly went on what family members said had become a routine hike near Skylands Manor sometime Sunday afternoon.

She apparently left her cell phone in her car, authorities said.

Loved ones reported her missing around 10 p.m.

The park was temporarily closed on Monday as New Jersey State Park Police combed the area on the ground and in the air. They continued to add resources -- quads, dirt bikes and canines, among them.

The big break came when a Facebook user who'd seen one of the posts about Heimbach's disappearance spotted her on a Ring camera.

"It is important to thank the community [for] this," New Jersey State Park Police Chief George Fedorczyk said.

Someone "had the wherewithal and paid attention to the Facebook page, took a look" at their Ring, the chief told reporters.

"How many of us get Ring cameras that we buzz, we just kind of take a glance at it? 'OK that's fine, it's the mailman'," Fedorczyk said.

"This individual obviously took the time, recognized, was aware of the situation and appropriately called the authorities to where we can get this to a positive resolution," he said.

New Jersey State Park Police were assisted by:

  • New Jersey State Police;

  • Ringwood (NJ) police;

  • New Jersey Search and Rescue;

  • the Passaic County Sheriff's Department;

  • the New Jersey Department of Corrections;

  • Catskill Mountain Search and Rescue;

  • Community Search and Rescue;

  • Specialty K9 Search and Rescue;

  • the Mid Atlantic Regional Search and Rescue;

  • Search and Rescue Team Warren County;

  • Ramapo (NJ) police.

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