SAN DIEGO (KGTV)—The Poway Fire Department removed a woman from a storm drain after firefighters carried out a confined space rescue response Monday afternoon.
The San Diego Police and Fire departments also responded to the scene at 14710 Beeler Canyon Road.
According to Poway firefighters, SDPD was investigating a missing persons case that had started four to five days ago. When investigators pinged the missing woman's phone, it led them to an area near Beeler Canyon Road. As they were searching in that general vicinity, officers heard moaning down a storm drain, triggering the confined space rescue response, per PFD.
The rescue operation began at roughly 1 p.m., and by about 2:35 p.m., the woman was removed from the storm drain.
San Diego Fire Department Battalion Chief Erik Windsor said she was in serious condition, taken to a hospital in the area and was undergoing life-saving measures.
SDPD identified the woman as Yafang Zhou, 59, who was reported missing on April 3. As of Monday afternoon, police were not releasing more information "out of respect for Yafang and her family." A department Facebook post from April 3 says Zhou was last seen around midnight on March 25 in the 1000 block of Union St.
"Units entered into the sewage system into what we call a confined space. They went through all the processes to permit it to make a safe entry, and then firefighters were literally inside the sewage or storm drain, crawling on their stomachs to try and locate the victim," Windsor said. "Firefighters were opening manhole covers all along the storm drain system, and then they were eventually able to finally locate here in an area uphill from where we had been searching, at which point they reestablished the rescue efforts, built a system of ropes and pulleys, and lowered personnel down into the storm drain."
Windsor said he was unaware if the woman was conscious or not, and he said he wouldn't expand on her medical status, citing HIPAA.
"It is very possible from what I'm hearing that she's been there for days, and it is very unusual," he said. "What she was doing in there, what drove her in there, how she came to be in there, we are unclear, and again, I will let our partners from the police department address that if they know anything. But it is very unusual to have somebody in there."
WATCH: Interview with battalion chief on the scene of the rescue
Windsor also said it was relayed to him that there were no removed manhole covers when the firefighter crews got there.
"It is possible that she entered into the storm drain system from one of the outlets, which would naturally be open where water would flow out into the creek or some other way, but one of the things that we investigated when we first arrived here was to see if there were any open or disturbed manhole covers, which would have indicated to us a great starting point," he said. "There weren't any, so we picked a central one and started searching from there, hoping really, initially, that we would just get lucky going in one direction or the other. And ultimately... when we went uphill, that's when they found her."
This is a developing story. ABC 10News has sent a crew to the area to gather more information.
