This aerial photo taken Saturday, April 9, 2016, and provided by Arizona Department of Public Safety shows, a "help" sign made by Ann Rodgers, 72, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona. Rodgers got... (Associated Press) 
 
 TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A woman lost in an Arizona forest for nine days survived by drinking pond water, eating plants and spelling out "help" on the ground with sticks, authorities said Tuesday. 
 
 The sign helped lead rescuers to Ann Rodgers, 72, in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona earlier this month, the state Department of Public Safety said. Rodgers declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press. 
 
 However, Rodgers told a Tucson TV station on Tuesday that she had food and water in her car but ran out after several days and turned to survival mode. 
 
 "I was eating desert plants. My dog was too, diving into clovers and finding all the places that were the easiest to go," she told KOLD. 
 
 Rodgers went missing March 31 as she headed to visit her grandkids in Phoenix. She got lost, and her hybrid vehicle ran out of gas and electric power, authorities said. Her car was discovered three days after a search began, but rescue crews struggled to find her. 
 
 Authorities came across her dog April 9, and a department flight crew spotted a "help" signal made of sticks and rocks on the ground. Rodgers had left the area, but she was found nearby on the Fort Apache Reservation after starting a signal fire. 
 
 Rodgers said she was waving to the helicopter. When it landed to rescue her, she sat down and cried. 
 
 The Department of Public Safety said Rodgers was suffering from exposure, but she was in fair condition and able to walk to and board the helicopter with little assistance. She was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Payson for treatment and later released. 
 
 Rodgers is from Tucson and was on a hike Tuesday afternoon, the Department of Public Safety said. It was not clear how she ended up in the eastern part of the state because the drive from Tucson to Phoenix is a straight shot on Interstate 10, which does not run through the area where she was found. 
 
 Rodgers' rescue came after three men who spelled out "help" with palm fronds were saved from a remote Pacific island last week. They swam to a tiny Micronesian island when their boat capsized, and searchers spotted them two days later. ||||| A German Shepard seen wandering down the center median of Highway 99 in Galt was finally captured by police, five weeks after she first fell off a pickup truck. 
 
 Officers first received a 911 call on April 10 alerting them that the dog, nicknamed Freeway Frida, had fallen from a truck and her owners hadn’t realized it. 
 
 Galt police went to search for her that day but were unsuccessful. 
 
 In the days and weeks that followed, dozens of calls kept coming in about an injured dog seen wandering down the center median of the highway in the oleander bushes. Officers kept searching without luck. 
 
 “Last week, when we stopped getting calls, I thought something happened, she, you know, died,” Galt Police Officer Silvia Coelho said. 
 
 However, another sighting of Frida was reported about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Coelho knew it was now or never. 
 
 “We are getting her today, that’s it,” Coelho said. “It’s Saturday morning (and) traffic is light. We are getting this dog.” 
 
 With the help of the California Highway Patrol, Galt police shut down Hwy. 99 and found Frida, who initially put up a fight against being captured and continued to hide from officers. But the malnourished and scared dog finally gave in. 
 
 “She just laid down and looked at us with those big brown eyes and was like, ‘Oh thank you,' and like, 'Please help me,’” Coelho said. 
 
 Coelho took Frida to VCA Bradshaw Animal Hospital in Elk Grove, where veterinarian Dr. Mike Johnson diagnosed Frida with a broken tibia. 
 
 She was also emaciated and weighed just 44 pounds. A healthy adult German Shepard should weigh at least 65 pounds. 
 
 “We were speculating on what she’s been doing for food and water these last five weeks,” Johnson said. “Maybe the rain.” 
 
 At first, Frida was skittish and scared. However, once she realized the veterinarians were there to help, she warmed up to them. 
 
 “You could tell that she had a good home some place because she responded well to people being around her,” Johnson said. 
 
 Coelho has returned to the hospital twice to spend time with Frida. She’s even considered adopting her. 
 
 “I wish I could keep her,” Coelho said. “With my line of work, I’m never home, so she needs a good, loving home that will help her heal.” 
 
 However, Coelho isn’t too upset. After weeks of trying to catch her, Frida is finally safe. 
 
 “It made our day," Coelho said. "The whole day we were just all smiles and so happy.” 
 
 Galt police are still searching for Frida’s owner and hope to reunite them. She did not have a microchip. 
 
 KCRA's Tom Miller contributed to this report.
– A heroically loyal Washington state dog pulled a Lassie this week, bringing help to an equally adorable pooch stuck at the bottom of a cistern, KING 5 reports. Tillie and Phoebe had been missing for a week Monday when a resident alerted volunteers from the Vashon Island Pet Protectors that a strange dog had been repeatedly approaching them, then heading back into a wooded ravine nearby. Volunteers searched the ravine, which was miles away from where the dogs had last been seen, and finally heard a single bark when they called out Tillie's name. They found Tillie lying next to an old cistern inside of which Phoebe was perched on a small pile of concrete to stay dry. "For nearly a week, Tillie stayed by her side with the exception of the few minutes of each day when she went for help," states a post on the Pet Protectors Facebook page. The dogs were cold and hungry but otherwise OK. Pet Protectors describes Tillie's devotion to Phoebe as "a humbling example of the power of love." Good dog.