A Riverbank woman who had been missing since mid-July was found by searchers on Friday, Aug. 4, not too far from where she had last been seen.

The family of Jamie Allison Tull had offered a $100,000 reward for her safe return after the 33-year-old former teacher went missing. Merced County Sheriff’s Office also asked for the community’s assistance in finding the missing woman.

Tull was last been seen on Monday, July 17 in the area of Cunningham Road and Childs Avenue in Le Grand, where she crashed her vehicle. 

Authorities said Tull was found in a field about a quarter-mile east of the crash scene on Friday. Searchers found her on remote private property that Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said was known to be traveled by mountain lions and coyotes, off East Childs Avenue. Tull was seen wandering in a field when she was spotted near a fence. Her personal belongings were discovered close by as well, near a water tank, which led to a cattle trough. She reportedly had been drinking water from the trough during the past couple of weeks.

Sheriff Warnke added that the search for Tull saw searchers combing the fields on foot with police dogs, as well as utilizing flyovers from aircraft, and with help from the California Highway Patrol. Tull would’ve been found earlier, the sheriff noted, but she hid from searchers.

“She didn’t want to be found,” said Warnke. 

When found, Tull had good vital signs but was suffering from extreme exhaustion and sunburn. She was transported to the burn unit at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno, the sheriff said.

Classified as missing-at-risk when she disappeared following the vehicle accident, her family indicated that Tull suffers from bipolar disorder but stopped taking her medication.