A missing 59-year-old California woman who was found alive after being pulled from a storm drain tragically died hours later.
Yafang Zhou, of San Diego, went missing two weeks ago in the downtown area - where she lives with her husband, her mother-in-law told NBC 7 San Diego.
While searching for her on Monday morning, San Diego police detectives heard a woman's voice coming from below on the 14600 block of Beeler Canyon Road in Poway.
They quickly called firefighters to assist, along with a search and rescue team, and miraculously brought Zhou to the surface around 2.20pm.
She was taken to the hospital in serious condition after suffering from medical distress, the San Diego County medical examiner's office said.
Unfortunately, at 4.15pm that day she died after succumbing to her injuries.
It is unclear how she got in the drain and how long she was in there, but authorities believe she was trapped in there for days, San Diego Fire-Rescue battalion chief Erik Windsor told the outlet.
'What she was doing in there, what drove her in there, how she came to be in there — we are unclear,' he said.
Yafang Zhou, of San Diego, was found inside a storm drain on Monday afternoon after she went missing two weeks ago
A rescue team managed to rescue from the drain (pictured) and rush her to the hospital, but unfortunately, she died from her injuries just hours later
Windsor said the rescue operation took time because the conditions in the drain were not subtle for humans to survive in, and they weren't exactly sure where Zhou was at first.
'Firefighters were literally inside the .. storm drain, crawling on their stomachs to try to locate the victim,' he explained.
Windsor said the crew all had to be cautious because 'when we go in a confined space, we're worried about all sorts of gases, limited oxygen, what's going on in the confined space that are environmentally dangerous to them.
'There are also animals in those confined spaces,' he continued.
Rescuers were in the process of calling a bomb squad while looking for the woman, when all of a sudden, firefighter's lifted manhole covers along the storm drain's path and found her.
They were seen in video footage setting up a command center by the hole, while also placing a tripod over a nearby manhole.
Paramedics were on standby preparing a stretcher while a crew pulled her out of the deep hole with rope and a pulley system.
Windsor said 'lifesaving measures' were performed on the victim, but she did not make it.
It is unclear how she got in the drain and how long she was in there, but authorities believe she was trapped in there for days, San Diego Fire-Rescue battalion chief Erik Windsor said
'It is very amazing that we were able to extricate her and get her going to the hospital,' he said.
Zhou was first reported missing on April 3, according to a missing persons flyer.
She was last seen on March 25 around midnight near Union Street in downtown San Diego in 'unknown clothing,' the department said, adding that she was 'at risk.'
DailyMail.com contacted the San Diego Police Department for more information.
This comes just about a week after another missing woman fell into a well moments after surviving a car crash.
Mom-of-four Shirley Obert, 67, went missing March 29 after being involved in a car accident in Monroe County, Georgia.
Authorities and family members frantically searched for Obert, who was last seen wearing a red shirt and black pants - which police described as a Chick-fil-A work uniform.
Windsor said the rescue operation took time because the conditions in the drain were not subtle for humans to survive in, and they weren't exactly sure where Zhou was at first
A day after she went missing, police discovered her body at the bottom of a 'deep well that was surrounded by very thick brush' near where her car was found, authorities said.
'Mrs. Obert appeared to have been trying to go for help when this incident occurred. This appears to be a tragic accident,' Monroe County Sheriff's Office said.
A spokeswoman with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office told DailyMail.com: 'The well was covered under thick brush and would not have been noticeable.'
'We do not know exactly how she ended up in the wooded area, where her car was found. Our fatality Investigator is working on trying to piece everything together. We may never know exactly,' they added.
