A Tomball woman suffering mental illness and a heart condition went missing for more than two days before a maintenance crew found her alive inside a drainage culvert last week.

Iwona Marie Parker, 57, went missing at approximately 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 15 from her mobile home located in the 500 block of East Carrel Street when she left on foot in “an unknown direction,” the Tomball Police Department reported last week.

Authorities were notified the following day at 1 p.m. and initiated a search, which eventually included surrounding law enforcement agencies, including an air surveillance team from the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Then, on Wednesday, May 18, a Harris County lawn maintenance crew spotted a woman “curled up inside of a culvert” under a bridge in the area of Zion Road and Hufsmith Street, the Tomball Police Department reported.

The report also stated that the woman, identified as Parker, was “clearly scared and confused.”

While the maintenance crew was tending to Parker, a Northwest EMS ambulance drove by and was flagged down by the crew. An EMT rendered first aid and Parker was transported to a local hospital for treatment and evaluation. She was reported to be in stable condition at press time last week.

Tomball PD Capt. Ricky Doerre said that Parker left on foot, walked to a nearby drainage ditch and “sat down under the bridge under Zion and had been sitting there for close to two days.”

Doerre said that when she was found, Parker told those who found her “I’ve been waiting for you all to come get me.”

Doerre explained that Parker lives with an older male friend in a mobile home in “very modest conditions” and that at the time of her disappearance, her roommate was suffering from a heart ailment and was being treated at Tomball Regional Hospital.

As part of the search, Tomball PD joined with the Tomball Fire Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Tomball Public Works, Texas Equusearch, and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities also called Tomball Regional Hospital and issued a Silver Alert.

Doerre added that Tomball PD’s recently-acquired gyrocopter was not part of the search because it was undergoing mandatory maintenance.

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