[caption id="attachment_67082" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Kelly Jones"]
The Georgia woman who went missing while hiking in Donegal was found alive but disorientated and suffering from exposure after a massive search.
And Kelly Jones was this week flying back to the United States with her relieved father Rick, who had traveled to Ireland to be with his daughter.
Jones, 41, was missing for four days and eventually found in a currently unused rectory house in Glencolmcille. Just what happened in the time up to her disappearance remains a mystery this week.
Jones was taken to Sligo Hospital after being found by searchers and was well enough to fly back to the U.S. by Tuesday.
"She is going home with me," said Rick Jones, a former professor of animal science at the University of Georgia.
According to reports, Jones said his daughter was an only child and her mother had died some years ago. His daughter had been fascinated with Ireland from an early age, and had traced a great-grandmother to County Antrim.
Jones paid tribute to the rescue effort and the care his daughter had received.
"The people at the hospital were fantastic. They have gone out of their way to take care of her, beyond my wildest expectations.
"When I entered the hospital she was in high spirits but she was still a bit sore from her injuries. She was definitely glad to see me," he said.
Kelly Jones apparently has little memory of her ordeal which ended Wednesday, Sept. 21 when rescuers discovered her in the abandoned rectory.
