Lisa Theris, a 25-year-old woman, had a wild experience. She was found crawling up the side of Highway 82 in Alabama, completely unclothed, by Judy Garner, who’s a caregiver from Florida. Judy was just heading back from a deer camp in Union Springs when she spotted what she first thought was a deer at the road’s edge. As it happens, it was Lisa, in a pretty rough state.
Judy didn’t waste a second; she whipped her car around and rushed to help. As she got closer, she could see Lisa was actually on her knees and hands, desperately calling out for help. Judy gave her some water and called 911 right away. She found out Lisa had been missing for over three weeks. While they waited for the emergency crew, Judy grabbed some spare clothes from her car, which Lisa was grateful for.
When Judy asked her what had happened, Lisa told her she’d been surviving on berries and drinking muddy water. But she was clueless about how she lost her clothes or how she ended up there in the first place.
The cops and paramedics were relieved to see Lisa alive, considering the state she was in: dirty, scratched up, and bitten all over. Judy stuck by her the whole time and was struck by how polite and tough Lisa was, even after everything she’d been through. Lisa told her she just kept moving, trying to find a way out, which probably made it harder for anyone to find her.
Now, the big questions are: How did Lisa manage all by herself out there? And what exactly got her into this mess? Who were the last two guys she was with, blaming each other for a murder that didn’t happen? Was she running from something? Believe me, there’s more to this story, and it’s definitely going to keep you hooked.
Tracing her steps back
Lisa managed to last 25 days in Alabama’s thick woods, and she was never more than a mile from a road. She survived on berries, mushrooms, and water from puddles and creeks.
Now, Lisa was last seen hanging out with Randall Wade Oswald and Manley Green Davis. These men have had their fair share of run-ins with the law, especially with petty crimes and narcotics. Things got problematic after Lisa disappeared because these two started accusing each other of doing something horrible to her. Oswald even told the cops that Davis had shot Lisa and dumped her in a creek, which led to a massive search with dogs and divers, but they turned up nothing.
When Lisa was finally found by a passerby, she was in a rough state. She had lost about 45 pounds and was all scratched up, but thankfully, she was alive. She told people that she had been eating whatever she could find in the woods and staying near water sources.
Digging a bit into her background, it turns out Lisa’s life was far from ideal before all this. After breaking up with her boyfriend, she moved back in with her parents and started taking classes at a community college. She even had a run-in at a courthouse for disorderly conduct right before she vanished. That same night, she was supposedly with Oswald and Davis, planning to rob a hunting lodge. According to Davis, Lisa freaked out, jumped out of their truck during the escape, and ran off into the woods. But Oswald flipped the script and accused Davis of shooting her.
Everyone in town and the cops are a bit split on buying her whole survival story. It’s hard for them to believe someone could actually live out there for so long, especially in such a small, dangerous area. But Lisa has stuck to her story through and through. She said she had to rip off her red shirt so they wouldn’t find her, and she didn’t have a phone because it got busted in a car crash a few weeks earlier.
Despite the wild circumstances, there were no plans to charge her with anything. Oswald and Davis were locked up over the lodge burglary. But for Lisa, it was a challenge to return to normal, or as normal as it could be after something like that, yet she remained hopeful.
So how did she really survive out there in the wild?
Theris’ survival story is straight out of a television show – a woman naked and afraid, but it all really happened right here in Bullock County. She spent a month lost in the woods, and coming home was a huge relief for her.
I’m just so happy to be home and getting better. Thanks to everyone for their support and prayers.
The woods were rough on her. She came out with a stick she’d crafted to help her walk, a lot of bug bites, cuts, and poison ivy.
During the day, the bugs weren’t too bad because of the heat, but at night, they were horrible.
Lisa was all alone in a huge stretch of dense forest near Midway. There were no houses or roads for miles. She felt completely lost.
The area was massive. I kept hoping to bump into someone or find any kind of shelter, but there was nothing. Just endless nature.
It was even tougher because Lisa is legally blind and didn’t have her glasses or contacts. Search teams spent weeks combing through the massive area, but finding her in such a vast wilderness was like finding a needle in a haystack. Despite everything, she managed to survive on whatever she could find.
“I drank any water I could find, even if it made me sick, and thank God for the berries.
She also ate mushrooms, steering clear of the brightly colored ones.
Luckily, she didn’t run into any snakes or coyotes. Her big break came when she finally heard traffic noise after days of wandering and followed it to Highway 82. That’s where Judy found her and didn’t hesitate to help.
Now, back home, Lisa is slowly getting back on her feet and has already gained back 10 pounds of the over 40 pounds she lost. She hasn’t seen “Naked and Afraid,” but her story could easily be an episode on it. Every night, she would sleep under a tree, which felt strangely comforting.
“Thinking about my family kept me going. I just had to get back to them.
She kept moving as much as she could, remembering spots where she found water and pushing forward even when she felt like giving up. She didn’t have a watch, but kept track of the days in her head.
This whole experience has changed her perspective a lot.
“It makes you appreciate everything so much more.
Lisa continues to recover and focuses on her radiology studies at Wallace Community College in Eufaula. She lives each day as it comes, while her amazing story of survival grabs attention worldwide.
“I’m incredibly grateful. I thank God every day and I’m just so happy to be alive.
