NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A New Jersey woman missing in downtown Nashville for nearly seven hours was located along the Cumberland River Thursday morning.
Officials began the search after 4 a.m. in the downtown Nashville core.
Metro police identified the missing woman as 33-year-old Alexandria Chmiel, of New Jersey, and released surveillance images of her walking alone toward the river.
She reportedly became separated from her friend at Third Avenue and Broadway before 2 a.m. and was reported missing at 3:42 a.m. She was last seen on downtown cameras near the Woodland Street bridge and First Avenue.
The search was focused near the Gay Street connector and the Woodland Street bridge, where college student Riley Strain was last seen before he disappeared. Metro police and Nashville firefighters used manpower, a helicopter and a drone in the search.
The Nashville Office of Emergency Management said its public safety drone operator worked closely with the Nashville Fire Department, using thermal imaging and GPS from cell phone pings to “direct personnel to exact locations of critical evidence” of the missing person.
First-responders found her shoes and cell phone down the embankment. A detective spotted Chmiel climbing up from the riverbank with scratches and lacerations.
Chmiel was found just before 9 a.m. at the Gay Street connector. She was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for evaluation.
Investigators believe Chmiel went into the river at some point during her disappearance. She told officials at the scene she did not know how she ended up in the river.
No additional information was immediately released.