PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Nearly a week after Anu Awasthi disappeared, volunteers found her while searching a wooded spot bordering the Tampa Road area where she was last seen.

"Probably the happiest moment of my life — no doubt," said Awasthi's son, Rohan Awasthi.

What You Need To Know

  •  Missing Tampa woman Anu Awasthi was found alive in a wooded area near the Oldsmar Walmart Wednesday

  •  Awasthi was last seen in the area of the Walmart and a CVS on Tampa Road last Thursday

  •  A spokesperson for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said her disappearance did not appear to be suspicious or criminal in nature

  • Family said while Awasthi was dehydrated and exhausted, she was expected to be OK

"It just went from the worst week of my life to probably one of the happiest days of my life," said son Varun Awasthi.

According to the Facebook group "Help us find Anu Awasthi," Anu was at the Oldsmar Walmart for a hair appointment on Aug. 10 around 10 a.m. She was last seen on surveillance footage near the CVS on Tampa Road shortly after.

Six days later, her family's dining room had turned into a command center of sorts. Laptops were set up where Varun said they responded to messages and followed up on leads. Stacks of missing persons fliers sat on the table. A neighbor stopped by to pick some up to hand out while she ran errands.

A spokesperson for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday afternoon that Anu's disappearance did not appear to be suspicious or criminal in nature. Varun said his mother recently returned from her father's funeral in India.

"She went there, spent some time with her family there, came back, and was no longer her usual self. She was a very friendly, energetic person, and then following her dad's death, she hasn't been the same. My brother and I were supposed to visit her over the weekend, but we came in a few days earlier. The moment we heard that she was missing, just rushed down here from New York and Connecticut to help find Mom," Varun said. 

Spectrum News was interviewing Anu's husband, Vikas Awasthi, when he got a phone call from a friend telling him Anu had been found.

"I think we've got good news," Vikas said after hanging up. "We've had a few false starts, so I don't want to get too caught up in this. I'm gonna wait until the detective who's on our case, he calls back and he confirms."

Vikas later confirmed he got that call, and he and his sons rushed to the hospital to see Anu, just a ten-minute drive from where she was found in a wooded area across the parking lot from the Walmart.

"Today inside the woods, the 'feels like' temperature was 111. How she was still alive, I have no idea other than a miracle from the man upstairs," said Nico Tusconi with We Are The Essentials.

Tusconi said the non-profit volunteer group made up of former law enforcement and military members had searched the area for two and a half days.

"It was a very rugged terrain," said Tusconi. "There was a pretty good-sized gator back there that spooked the K-9 guy and spooked me."

He said a CVS bag found in the area Wednesday morning led them to do a more condensed grid search that brought them to the swampy area where Anu was found. 

"I was able to hear a little bit of whimpering, and so I thought, you know, what are the chances, but let's try. So, I started yelling her name. That whimpering got louder, and then I would say probably 20 seconds after that, I started yelling her name and for back-up from my colleagues here, and then we converged on her and found her," Tusconi said. 

Tusconi said Anu was going in and out of shock, very dehydrated, covered in bug bites, but still able to communicate.

"All she kept saying was, 'Where's my boys? How are my boys?'" Tusconi said.

Anu's family said the circumstances surrounding Anu's disappearance aren't yet clear. They said they were able to see and talk with her in the hospital, and while she has some recovery ahead, she is expected to be OK. They said they're grateful to all of the volunteers who helped in the effort to find Anu.

"I just never would have thought this many people would've helped us just find our mom. Like, you think that people don't care. They really do. They go out of their way, put their life on pause just to help us out," Varun said. "They don't really know us that well. Some of our close family does, but so many volunteers, they don't know us. They're just like, 'We have to find her because it's just the right thing to do.' And they did. Just so thankful to them. So happy that we see our mom. Just very happy that she's OK."