WATERFORD — A 77-year-old South Portland woman lost in the woods for two days was found alert and smiling Wednesday morning by a rescue dog and his handler.

Searchers discovered Ruth Frances Brennan about a mile and a quarter from where wardens confirmed a sighting of her on Jewett Pond Road at 3 p.m. Monday. She was alert, in good spirits and talking to rescuers before she was escorted from the woods, said Maine Warden Service Lt. Kevin Adam.

After briefly reuniting with family members, she was taken to an unnamed hospital for a precautionary exam.

Brennan was vacationing with her family at a camp on Spur Ridge Road on Middle Pond, and went missing while walking from that camp toward Melby’s Market & Eatery on Route 35 in North Waterford.

Speaking on behalf of the family, Maryjane Johnston said everyone was “overjoyed” to find Brennan safe. 

Brennan, Johnston said, was more concerned that wardens were overworking themselves and scratching their trucks than about herself. 

Brennan was found off-trail in an area not previously searched, west of Jewett Pond Road and south of Trout Pond.

Details of Brennan’s ordeal were not immediately known and are expected to be released in the next few days, Adam said.

Maine Search and Rescue Dogs member Elizabeth Fossett of York said her German shepherd, Kobuk, alerted her with a bark that he had found a person. 

“When we got closer, I gave a holler out and said, ‘Is that you Ruth?’ and she said, ‘Yes.’ It was a little bit of a celebration at that point,” Fossett said. 

Due to the inaccessibility of the area, wardens initially deemed the spot a low priority.

“She was lucky to be found,” Adam said. 

About 25 Maine wardens, a dozen deputies from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office and more than 100 volunteers spent part of Monday, all of Tuesday and several hours Wednesday morning searching for Brennan after she was reported missing at 10 a.m. Monday. 

Searchers, including the Air National Guard and members of a number of specialized search and rescue units, searched a roughly 4-square-mile area Tuesday around where Brennan was last seen, hiking through woods with dense undergrowth and along camp roads, ATV trails and walking paths. 

At sunrise Wednesday morning, wardens focused the search on harder to reach locations, Adam said. 

“Normally people her age stick to travel aids,” he said. 

Brennan walks regularly, was considered in good physical health and had made a habit of walking from the camp to Melby’s store.

Brennan has symptoms common with dementia, but officials were unsure whether that was a factor in her disappearance, Adam said. Her family said Wednesday that Brennan has “memory loss not uncommon of someone her age.”

Heat in the 80s and high humidity played a factor in the search. Crews staggered the use of search dogs to allow them time to recuperate. 

Wednesday was the first time wardens opened the search to civilian volunteers, briefing and dispatching small search parties up to half an hour before Brennan was found.

Melinda Thompson of Norway said she felt compelled to help. 

“Every night you go to bed thinking she’s still out there,” Thompson said. 

Crews searched until midnight Monday and Tuesday, with volunteers either camping out or driving home to sleep for a few hours before resuming the search.

Meals were provided at the Waterford Fire Station by the Waterford Fire Auxiliary. Member Sharon Merrill estimated they fed 80 people Tuesday and another 100 on Wednesday.

“Amazing to see the outpouring for someone we didn’t know,” she said.

Just prior to news that Brennan had been found, Maine Warden Service Lt. Adam Gormley said, “That’s the resolution. We’re here until we find her.”

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