- Born
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Lauren Elder was born in Portland, Oregon, USA. Lauren is known for And I Alone Survived (1978).
- Lauren was born in Portland, Ore. and moved almost every year with her family during Dad's career with the Navy. Her parents now live outside Los Angeles. Her was a father a former World War II Navy pilot and director of flight test operations for Northrop Aviation in Los Angeles and her brother, Craig, was a cinematographer for Northrop. After graduating with honors in fine arts from UCLA, Lauren later worked for three and a half years as a counselor in a halfway house for mental patients while she established herself as a professional artist in the Bay Area. Her paintings have been shown in 11 gallery exhibits, and she also freelances as a graphic artist and costume designer for theater groups.
- On April 26, 1976, 29-year-old Lauren decided to take up an offer to be the third passenger in a Cessna 182P, tail number N52855, on a trip from Oakland International Airport in Oakland, California to Furnace Creek Airport in Death Valley's Furnace Creek. The plane crashed was lying on a precarious slope a few feet away from a ridge in California's Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 12,460 feet (3,800 m), one-half mile south of Mt. Bradley. The pilot and another passenger died hours later. With no real possibility of rescue, she decided to climb down from the mountain to the valley below. At one point it was necessary to lower herself down a 100-foot-tall dry waterfall. She suffered from hallucinations on the way because of lack of sleep and shock. Her descent took 36 hours. She walked late that night into the town of Independence, California. She has capped teeth, a metal plate in her forearm, a jagged scar on her leg and a toe damaged by frostbite.
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