77-year-old woman trapped in car 5 days rescued in New Jersey

A 77-year-old woman was freed after being trapped in her automobile for five days.

Janette Ward had been living in her van in Newark, New Jersey, and fell asleep Sunday. She woke up and found the car buried in the snow due to a recent storm.

She told that a snowplow had plowed her vehicle in.

She was not able to get out of the vehicle herself. She started calling for help Sunday, but she said dispatchers didn’t send help.

Luckily, she had recently purchased some food and water.

They did get a call on Wednesday, but police were not able to locate her because of a mistake in logging her call.

The record revealed her to be at Lincoln Street in Newark, but in actuality, she was at Lincoln Park. Police tried calling her, but no one picked up.

Ward called for help again Thursday, and the fire department could find her this time. They had to shovel a path to her van’s door, but she declined any medical help and didn’t want fire crews to shovel out her vehicle.

A group of men from a residential substance abuse program located near the parking lot where Ward was stuck came out and dug her out.

The Newark Office of Homeless Services is providing to help to Ward.