NCSHP Trooper Finds Missing Virginia Woman After Overnight Ordeal During Winter Storm

A North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper located an 81-year-old Virginia woman who survived a night stranded in her vehicle during a winter storm in Caswell County, according to state officials.

On Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, at approximately 7:40 a.m., Trooper Kyle Thomas Underwood was dispatched to Green Tree Road after OnStar reported a vehicle in a ditch. Snow and ice from the storm had made road conditions extremely hazardous.

The State Highway Patrol said Trooper Underwood navigated poor road conditions and was required to turn around inside the Virginia state line to access the North Carolina portion of the dead-end road. An initial search of the area did not reveal a vehicle or tire tracks in the snow, raising concern that the driver may have been stranded for an extended period.

At approximately 9:00 a.m., Underwood located the vehicle. Authorities said the car had traveled an estimated 70 to 75 feet down a steep embankment and was completely hidden from view from the roadway. The vehicle was covered in snow and ice and was not running.

As he approached on foot, he heard an OnStar operator speaking with someone inside the vehicle. He made contact with the driver, an 81-year-old woman from Danville, Virginia.

According to investigators, the woman became lost Saturday evening after grocery shopping and pulled over to enter her home address into her vehicle’s GPS. While stopped, her car slid on the icy roadway and went down the embankment, where it became stuck.

Troopers said the woman was exhausted and extremely cold. She was assisted into the patrol vehicle to warm up while Underwood confirmed her identity. During that process, the State Highway Patrol Communications Center advised that the woman and her vehicle had been reported missing by the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia.

The woman told troopers she had left her cell phone at home and did not have an active OnStar subscription. She said she attempted to drive out of the ditch until the vehicle ran out of fuel around 10 p.m., then repeatedly pressed the OnStar emergency button until she was able to reach an operator.

Overnight temperatures dropped into the lower teens. Authorities said the woman remained inside her vehicle through the freezing conditions until she was located the next morning.

She was evaluated by emergency responders at the scene and declined hospital treatment. Deputies from Virginia later transported her home to Danville, where she was reunited with her family.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol praised Trooper Underwood’s persistence and professionalism, and commended the woman’s determination and resilience during the life-threatening winter ordeal during Winter Storm Fern.