FRANKLIN, Tenn. — A missing woman was found frozen to the ground after last week’s ice storm. Patricia, 74, survived the freezing temperatures thanks to a man who spotted her car and stopped to see if everything was OK. Keith Sheldon works for Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, but his true passion in life is photography. Sheldon took photos of downed power lines from the ice storm last week.
“I’d taken this right before I came out and found her,” Sheldon said.
Last Friday, Sheldon took the day off to take pictures of the ice and snow in Franklin. As he went to leave, he realized the road was too icy and turned around. As he turned around, he noticed a gray Lexus stuck in a ditch. Sheldon started taking pictures of the car, thinking it might belong to someone at a nearby church.
“As I was taking my third photo is when I noticed the lady in front of the car,” Sheldon said.
Not knowing if she was dead or alive, Sheldon called out to the woman. She was unresponsive.
“I walked over to her and when I got next to her, she opened her eyes,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon didn’t know how long the woman had been there. It was 15 degrees outside at the time. Once paramedics arrived, they realized she was frozen to the ground.
“We lifted her up off the ground and you could hear it breaking between her body and the ground,” Sheldon said.
It turned out Patricia had been reported missing by her family two days earlier. According to the missing person’s report, she has several brain injuries from horseback riding. The woman reportedly told her family she was heading to Winner’s Circle Farms in Franklin, but never made it there.
“Part of me wonders if I hadn’t come up, I don’t know how long anyone could live in that weather,” Sheldon said.
Sheldon said he feels fortunate he just happened to be there taking pictures that day.
“I was sent there for a reason, I think, and I’m glad for it,” he said.
