Man, 81, Survived Being Trapped in Calif. Snowstorm by Eating Snow and Croissants for a Week: 'A Miracle'

Inyo County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

An 81-year-old man who went missing for nearly a week was found alive and well in his car after being trapped in one of California's recent snowstorms.

According to the Inyo County Sheriff's Office, the man was found on March 2 after a California Highway Patrol helicopter crew spotted him waving his arm from his car, which was buried under snow.

"When the crew made their way closer for inspection, a window was lowered and a person began waving from inside the vehicle," the sheriff's said in their statement, shared on Saturday.

The man was identified as Jerry Alan Jouret by CBS affiliate KTVN.

Jouret had been reported missing since Feb. 24, when he was last heard from before making a trip from Big Pine, California, to Gardnerville, Nevada, an approximately 170-mile drive.

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Jouret was discharged from the hospital later that day, the sheriff's office said.

"I just really believe it was a miracle," his brother, Joe Jouret, told Patch.

"[The pilot] was about out of gas," he continued, recalling when his brother was found. "But he looked down and he saw what looked like a rock as he looked down. He had another man with him in the helicopter…and as they looked down there, it was [my brother's] car. He was almost buried in snow, but not quite. He took his hand out of the window and waved it."

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Jouret survived the ordeal by eating snow and croissants, the outlet said.

Photographs shared by the sheriff's office showed piles of snow covering much of the area along Death Valley Road where Jouret was found.

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The sheriff described the location as a "rough road running south of the 168 and leading into Death Valley National Park."

"He was smiling all the way back to the airport," Joe Jouret told Patch of his brother. "He was happy to get out of that situation."