Va. Officials Recount Rescue Of S.J. Woman And Great Granddaughter

DINWIDDIE, VA (CBS) -- Quick thinking and action is being credited with saving the lives of a 71 year old Atlantic County woman and her 5 year old great-granddaughter who had been missing for 4 days on a holiday trip to visit relatives down south.

Dinwiddie County is some 30 miles south of Richmond, Virginia. Major William Knott with the Sheriff's office was first to arrive Wednesday evening after a resident of the town of Dewitt saw Barbara and La'Myra Briley laying down in a wooded area near Barbara's car.

"When I approached the child immediately popped up and started crying and told me that they were trying to their family member's house in North Carolina," Knott told KYW Newsradio.

Barbara was unable to respond at the time and was taken by chopper to a hospital. La'Myra is with her family now, apparently none the worse for the experience.

Knott is convinced that Barbara might not have survived had it not been for that passerby walking his dog.

"I truly believe that they couldn't have taken much more," Knott said. "The good Lord was looking over them and it's very fortunate that that gentleman took a walk that day and happened across them and of course he did the right thing by calling 9-1-1."

Virginia State Police are still looking into how this all happened, given Barbara had made this trip several times before.