An El Cajon woman who went missing for four days, said she drove to Mexico by accident.
Anne Terhune, 61, disappeared Tuesday night, leaving many people in San Diego worried.
In an interview Sunday, Terhune told NBC 7 that she had intended to go to the library, only 15 minutes from her house. But instead, she got lost and accidentally crossed the border into Mexico.
“Suddenly, I was with all these cars, and we were driving in a line. It started raining, and I couldn’t really see very well as far as what was going on, and I went into Mexico,” Terhune explained.
“Everyone is like, ‘well, there’s big signs that say, you know, Mexico.' Sorry, I didn’t see them,” she said.
Terhune said she didn’t have any money or a cell phone with her.
“I thought, oh no, I’m going to have to turn around.”
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According to Terhune, her gold Mercury Marquis ran out of gas as she tried to make her way back to the border. She said she walked to the nearest gas station, but when she came back, her car was gone.
“So I walked back to the Revolución because I wasn’t far from the end anyway,” she said. “It was really cold already, and these guys were cooking enchiladas and all this stuff on a charcoal fire inside this little building. I went in and sat down and ate some. It was so warm and nice in there. I fell asleep in the seat.”
That’s where Terhune slept the first night she was lost. Terhune said she doesn’t remember many details from those four days. She said she does remember trying to get a hotel room, but didn’t have any cash. She said she also tried calling home many times, but couldn’t get through.
Four days after she went missing, Terhune was found in Mexico and driven home by an El Cajon police officer.
“My son and daughter were here, and everybody was just so emotional and keyed up,” Terhune said. “I thought it would be, ‘hey, happy day, I’m home!’ And everyone was like, ‘where were you?’”
Terhune told NBC 7 she doesn’t have any medical conditions of which she is aware.
She and her husband Brian Moon said they are thankful to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for bringing her home.
Terhune’s family reported her missing to police Tuesday night. Moon called NBC 7 Saturday to say his wife was home safe. According to El Cajon police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the San Ysidro checkpoint notified police that they had located Terhune around 1 a.m. Saturday.
