Witless in Seattle

The Lord of Truth points out this utterly odd story with a happy ending...

A teenager was found alive in her wrecked car after being missing for eight days.

Laura Hatch, 17, last seen at a party Oct. 2, was found Sunday in her 1996 Toyota Camry about 150 feet below a road in this suburb east of Seattle, King County sheriff's deputies said.

Hatch was listed in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was being treated dehydration, a possible blood clot, broken ribs, a broken leg and facial injuries, said her sister, Amy Hatch.

"We were afraid that we weren't going to find her, we weren't going to get her back," the sister told KING television in Seattle. "This is the best thing that could happen because there were a million awful scenarios."

Hatch evidently went eight days without food or water, sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart said, adding that there had been no indication of foul play.

"There was no police search," he added. "We felt she was most likely a runaway."

Sha Nohr, whose daughter is a friend of Hatch, found the teen Sunday in a wooded area, where 200 volunteers had searched unsuccessfully the day before.

Boy, the cops were really helpful, weren't they? Then again, perhaps the 200 volunteers need a seeing-eye dog. Remind me never to get lost in Washington state.