Giovanna “Gia” Fuda, missing July 24, 2020, Found August 1, 2020, Scenic creek, Washington State

Revised April 2024

Giovanna “Gia” Fuda, 18, was found on Saturday, August 1, 2020, alive and well. She had been missing in the Washington State wilderness for 9 days and was presumed to be dead.

The teenager went for a drive on July 24, 2020, east of the town of Skykomish, which is a town about a 70-mile drive east of Seattle, according to the King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO), after leaving her home in Maple Valley, Washington. She traveled northeast but, for some reason, ventured far past Seattle’s city views to a remote area of Washington.

Her mother, Kristin Fuda, last saw her daughter that morning. At about 11:30 pm. her parents began to worry when she didn’t return home or check in with them. They called and texted her but received no response. By 1 am, they called the police and filed a missing persons report with KCSO.

That morning at around 10 am, Gia was captured on a surveillance camera from a coffee shop near the town of Index. She bought a Bigfoot key chain and left.

The search for Gia Fuda

A Washington State Department of Transportation worker found Gia’s car nearby on July 27, three days after her disappearance. The worker noticed the car because of the awkward way it was parked. The license plate number was checked it was found that the car belonged to Gia Fuda. The authorities examined the car and discovered that it had run out of gas. The car was locked with her purse and belongings still left inside.

KCSO Major Crimes Detectives called the disappearance suspicious and there were fears that foul play may have been involved. Had she been forcibly abducted? Her cell phone had been powered off where the car was located.

Search and rescue teams from around the state helped with the search which began on July 26, but the area is considered a cell phone dead zone, which made it difficult to track anyone using pings. Hundreds of volunteers from across the state, including dog teams, mountain rescuers, and law enforcement officers took part. Her family made signs, handed out fliers at coffee shops, and walked hiking trails trying to find her. But there was no sign of Gia or her belongings.

Gia is found

Then, on August 1, when hope was beginning to fade that Gia would be found alive, search and rescue teams found some of her possessions, including shoes, a bible, a bag, and a cell phone, near Scenic Creek. Shortly afterwards, they found her alive and well. KCSO officials revealed that Gia was found "up a steep ravine, sitting on a rock near the river.”

How did Gia Fuda get lost?

She told rescuers that she panicked when her 2008 silver Toyota Corolla ran out of gas and she pulled over on the side of U.S. Highway 2 near Stevens Pass and Scenic Falls. She wandered into the Cascade Mountains with what she could grab: her cell phone, a Bible and a journal leaving her purse and its contents behind. She was trying to cut off some distance through the dense forest to get help at a gas station in Skykomish which the Sheriff’s Office said was 10 miles away. Walking along the highway was too dangerous. As she walked, she got lost in the forest.

Kristen Fuda said, "She only thought she had been up there for three days. She didn't realize how long it had been. Gia had hunkered down into bushes and curled up at night to try and get sleep, but she shook as she was cold at night. She survived off of nothing but berries and water from a nearby creek.”

Gia was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for scratches, cuts, and dehydration but was otherwise physically well.

During the ordeal, there were warm nights and water from the creek, according to Greg Prothman, a rescue team leader, who also said that her having stayed in roughly the same area had made it easier to find her. Her mother said she had also eaten a few berries, possibly huckleberries, but not too many because she had worried that they might be poisonous.

Gia is a lucky lady as the wilderness in Washington state can be wild and unforgiving.

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Sources

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/03/us/gia-fuda-missing-teen-washington-found-trnd/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/us/giovanna-gia-fuda-found.html

https://people.com/human-interest/washington-teen-gia-fudo-found-alive-missing-9-days/

https://www.insideedition.com/where-is-gia-fuda-police-release-new-photos-from-the-day-she-vanished-60997