Amanda Eller was found by a search team on Friday, May 25, 2019. They spotted her from a helicopter and at the same time she saw them and waved them down. Amanda was located deep in a creek bed between two waterfalls.
Amanda is doing great and spoke to her father from the helicopter.
Amanda was a graduate of Chopticon High School and many of her friends and immediate family live in Southern Maryland.
Before being rescued on Friday Amanda was last seen 17 days ago on May 8, 2019, at 7:30 a.m. Her vehicle was found by police in a parking lot at the Makawao Forest Reserve on May 9, 2019, at about 9:50 a.m.
SMNEWSNET was streaming live, and you can see the FaceBook Live feed from the event HERE. You can go to FindAmanda FaceBook Page HERE.
A GoFundMe was started to help find Amanda, and it raised over $75,000.00 in donations.
The money went towards poster printing, maps, and copying expenses, basecamp provisioning including tents, tables, power sources, radio rentals, helicopter and FLIR rentals, civilian search and rescue services beyond volunteer, ATV and quad rentals, paid advertising, and private investigator services
Since Amanda was found, any remaining funds will be used to install wildlife cameras at strategic locations around the Makawao Forrest Reserve trails and other popular recreational areas in Maui to have a record of hikers and runners locations through the potentially dangerous areas, and significantly reduce search areas and rescue times for missing persons.
