CHARLOTTE -- A missing Charlotte woman was found weak but alive in a wooded area early Thursday evening.

Cora Roseborough, 73, went missing on Tuesday afternoon after leaving her home in west Charlotte. She suffers from dementia and disappeared from the Food Lion on Moores Chapel Road near I-485.

After nearly 50 hours of searching in northwest Charlotte, crews found Roseborough in a creek bed near Belmeade Drive. She was covered in mud and very weak, but alive. She was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center.

Search crews said they never gave up hope.

"[We were] optimistic the whole time. We were never going to quit," Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Brian Whitley said. "We were going to keep looking until we found her."

But Whitley said there was an element of luck involved when it came to the weather.

"The fact that it hasn't been in the 90s the last couple of days helped a lot in her survival," Whitley said.

Police said a neighbor found out about Roseborough's missing person case through e-mail. That neighbor found Roseborough's jacket and called police.

They eventually found the woman nearby.

CMPD Officer Chris Humphrey credited the work of the many neighbors and city departments who dedicated time for the search.

"Every little thing helps -- the neighbors helped, pitching in, bringing things back from the woods," Humphrey said. "If it hadn't been for those guys out here looking today -- we don't know."

Neighbors, friends and family said they were touched by the effort.

"It's wonderful that everybody would take this much effort to look for somebody," neighbor Hazel Hendrix said.

Now however, Roseborough's family -- and authorities -- can breathe a little easier.

"It's emotional. I found myself shivering when we got out because we've been looking for two days for her," Humphrey said. "It's a big relief."