Anaheim Woman Falls Into Ditch, Suffers Critical Head Injuries

ANAHEIM —  An Anaheim Hills woman remained in critical condition Friday evening after being found unconscious in a drainage ditch, where she had apparently fallen while walking her dogs the night before.

Susie Shryrock, 37, and her three dogs were spotted by a police helicopter Friday morning after a 45-minute search, police said. Shryrock had left her Anaheim Hills home Thursday night to take a regular evening walk with her dogs and did not return home. After friends reported her missing, police began searching for her Friday morning. They found her car parked at the end of Canyon Creek Road, police said.

Police used a helicopter to search the area near the end of the road and found Shryrock, covered by her three dogs, lying in an open drainage ditch. Police said that the dogs, which huddled near her during the night, helped keep the woman alive as temperatures dropped to the low 50s overnight, police said.

Shryrock, who underwent brain surgery on Friday, suffered head injuries that police said were caused by the fall. Authorities said they did not know how she fell.