Missing hiker and her cat found in Gila

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An Albuquerque woman who’d been missing for nearly a month was found Wednesday alive, but barely.

Search and rescue crews say they found Margaret Page, 41, in the Gila National Forest and she wasn’t alone. They also found Page’s cat, who never left the woman’s side.

Officials say on Wednesday they spotted Page’s blue sleeping bag about a mile up from the Railroad Canyon Trail, they believe that’s where she’d gone hiking back in February.

Page had likely been stranded in the Gila for the past three weeks, nibbling on food she had brought with her and drinking water from a nearby creek.  She told crews she’d ran out of food about a week ago.

When Page was found she was barely able to speak and had lost one third of her body weight. She had been able to stay warm thanks to her thick blue sleeping bag.

Crews were startled at first to spot a small animal crawling out of Page’s sleeping bag, but quickly realized the furry little creature was actually a house cat.

The cat belonged to Page and had stayed by her side the entire time even as she was carried down the mountain by rescue crews.

On February 10th Forest Service workers spotted Page’s car by the Gila Trailhead.  Four days later APD reported her missing. On February 25th the Forest Service ran the plates on the car and realized it belonged to Page.  They say they contacted APD. 

Then this week, New Mexico State police out of Silver City say they were contacted by Page’s sister and immediately launched a search effort in the Gila.   They found her within hours.  

State Police say the missing woman told family members she was traveling to Florida, not the Gila.