Missing girl wrote 'HELP' on dirt road, found by hunters

A missing 19-year-old woman was found after a stepfather and son saw her cry for help etched into a nearby dirt road.

Kootenai County Sheriff had sent out an alert about missing women Katie Ogle days earlier, urging people to come forward with information. The alert noted that Ogle had the cognitive ability of a 10 to 12-year-old and had been missing since November 1.

Ryle Gordon, 15, and stepfather Chris Trumbrich were on a hunting trip in Hayden, Idaho when they stumbled across a message that said 'HELP'.

"My stepfather and I were surprised and in shock when we saw the 'Help' sign in the road," Gordon told ABC News. After seeing the Facebook post by the Sheriff's department, the 15-year-old suspected it may be Ogle.

He told local news team KFBB that there was something about the note that "felt creepy".

The boy and his stepfather then called the search team, who were packing up nearby, and assisted them in finding Ogle.

At one point, a searcher yelled "Hello" and Ogle yelled "Hello" back. She was found 20 metres from the message, next to a family's cabin – the family have since said they didn't mind Katie using the shelter as it was a "matter of survival".

"She looked very scared when she came out, like she was scared she was going to get in trouble, like we were going to yell at her for being in the cabin," Gordon said.

In a statement, the Kootenai Country Sheriff said, "She appears to be in relatively good condition and is being cared for by medical personnel on scene."