Woman Missing in Woods for 28 Days Speaks of Her Ordeal

NTD Television
Updated:

 

Lisa Theris, the Alabama woman who was lost the woods for close to a month has spoken about her ordeal on TV.

Theris was found by a driver on Highway 82 on Aug. 12. after having spent 28 days eating wild berries and mushrooms, and drinking puddle water. She was completely naked, emaciated, and covered in insect bites.

By the time Theris was found, she had lost 40 lbs.

“Of course I got sick often, but I did what I had to do to survive. I just knew I had to get home to my family,” the 25-year-old told a TV audience on This Morning

Theris says that she has no recollection of how she ended up in the dense forest of Bullock County.

“What I do remember is just waking up naked in the woods, not knowing how I got there,” she said.

Theris described the difficulty she faced when trying to navigate her way out of the forest. This was particularly challenging for Theris, who is classified as legally blind due to a chronic eye condition. For the entire 28 days, Theris was never more than 1 mile away from the nearest road.

“Everything looked the same” without glasses or contact lenses, Theris explained. “Anything further than right in front of me, I couldn’t see at all. It was very blurry.”

Theris is currently working with the authorities to clear up the details related to her disappearance.

The case has baffled investigators due to a combination of odd circumstances. Investigators now suspect that Theris got lost in the woods and couldn’t find her way back out because she was high on methamphetamine, Crime Online reported.

“She was probably so under the influence of drugs that she stripped her clothes off,” said Sheriff Raymond Rogers of Bullock County Alabama. “She was in a strange place, she came to, she didn’t know where she was. I don’t know how much drugs she took but I believe she was in there the whole time.”

When asked about how she came to be lost in the woods, Theris says, “I believe that I was drugged and dropped off by people who I thought were my friends.”

Theris might be referring to the two men—Randall Wade Oswald, 36, and Manley Green Davis, 31—who she was seen with just prior to her disappearance. The trio are known to law enforcement due to previous arrests for theft and drug-related offences.

Earlier in June, Theris had herself been arrested and charged for disorderly conduct after she interrupted a court hearing, and told deputies that she didn’t have to cooperate with their instructions, reported Crime Online.

While Theris was still missing, the authorities arrested Oswald and Davis in relation to the robbery of a hunting lodge where $40,000 worth of goods had been stolen.

Location of hunting lodge that Oswald and Davis burgled, and location on Highway 82 where Theris was found. (Screenshot via Google Maps)
Location of hunting lodge that Oswald and Davis burgled, and location on Highway 82 where Theris was found. Screenshot via Google Maps