iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) – A missing woman and her great-granddaughter have been found alive in Virginia, according to state police.
Barbara Briley, 71, and her 5-year-old great-granddaughter La’Myra Briley had last been seen after they stopped at an Exxon gas station in Virginia for directions on Christmas Eve.
According to Virginia State Police Public Information Officer Corinne Geller, the pair were found in their vehicle on private property in Dinwiddie County. The property owner discovered them and called authorities, Geller said.
Briley has been flown to VCU Medical Center in Richmond for treatment, Geller said, while La’Myra was alert and appeared unharmed, but has been transported from the scene for medical evaluation.
State police remain at the scene where the two were discovered and are in contact with the lead investigative agency in the case, the Township of Hamilton Police Department in New Jersey.
No further information was immediately available.
Earlier on Wednesday, Briley’s niece, Marcella Rorie, told ABC News that she was “beyond exhausted” searching for the two “but at this point that really doesn’t matter.”
Rorie added: “I need them found.”
Briley and La’Myra had intended to drive from New Jersey to North Carolina, a journey that runs primarily through I-95, a stretch of road that would be familiar to many East Coast residents who drive south for the holidays. CCTV footage taken at the gas station where they were last seen before today shows Briley walking up to a counter for assistance.
She had been asking for directions prior to her disappearance, according to Joanne Strange, a clerk at the gas station who spoke to ABC station WTVD in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to Strange, Briley had struggled with the GPS on her phone.
Family members told WTVD that Briley’s credit cards had not been used since the start of her trip and that she does not have any known medical conditions.
“We are holding out hope that she is simply a little disoriented,” Rorie said earlier Wednesday.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.