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An elderly Palo Alto couple missing near Inverness since taking a hike on Valentine’s Day were found alive Saturday morning, to the surprise of authorities and scores of volunteer searchers who had begun to believe that neither hiker had survived.

“This is a miracle,” Sgt. Brenton Schneider, a spokesman for the Marin County Sheriff’s Office, said at a news conference Saturday afternoon in Inverness.

Carol Kiparsky, 77, and Ian Irwin, 72, were found in a drainage area surrounded by “insanely thick” foliage at around 10 a.m., Schneider said. The couple were only a few miles from their rented cottage on Via de la Vista in the Seahaven-Inverness area where their walk began.

Both were rescued and taken to a hospital around noon.

“Carol and Ian are doing OK. They were suffering from slight hypothermia,” Schneider said. “The reason they are most likely alive is they were drinking from a puddle they found near where they were located.”

Carol and Ian are on there way to a local hospital. Both were extracted by @sonomasheriff helicopter and @MarinSAR @marincountyfire pic.twitter.com/3FwNRm6iiu

— Marin County Sheriff (@MarinSheriff) February 22, 2020

The couple were located three days after the Sheriff’s Office had started to call efforts to find them “a recovery mission” instead of a rescue operation. Cadaver K-9 teams, made up of dogs trained to find human remains, were searching the area.

Schneider said the couple were familiar with trails around the area. They left their cottage without food or water and became lost in the dark during the Feb. 14 hike. At some point they may have fallen into the drainage area, Schneider said. Kiparsky was missing a shoe when she was found, and Irwin was without a jacket.

As the search was going on, Kiparsky tried to find help alone but was unsuccessful, Schneider said. She tied parts of her scarf to branches to get back to her partner, he said.

They were found when search and rescue members nearby heard them calling for help, Schneider said.

The search involved 400 to 500 people, including personnel from search and rescue teams from Napa, Contra Costa, Alameda and San Mateo counties. Drones, dogs, horses, boats and an airplane were used Saturday morning to locate and extract the couple.

Earlier in the week, a hiker who was reported missing in Marin County was also found alive. Robert Bennett, a 76-year-old man who was seen Monday near Big Rock Ridge in Marinwood, was found Tuesday with help from a helicopter and K-9.