FRESNO, Calif. - A camper who had been missing for almost three weeks amid snowy, blizzard conditions in the Sierra Nevada has been located and "miraculously found alive."

Tiffany Slaton, of Jeffersonville, Georgia, was found on Wednesday in eastern Fresno County in a remote mountain cabin where she had taken shelter, Fresno County sheriff's officials said.

They noted that the area where Slaton was located was snowed in and, until recently, inaccessible until snowplows cleared roads on Wednesday.

That gave the owner of Vermilion Valley Resort, Christopher Gutierrez, an opportunity to check on his property, so he and his employees could begin preparing for the summer camping season.

During the check, they noticed a door open at one of the property's rentals, known as the Boat House.

In a video news conference posted to Facebook, Gutierrez detailed how they came upon Slaton.

"I see some shoes down there, and I'm like, okay, well, it's just a hiker who decided to hold up in the blizzard that we had that previous night and so as soon as we start making our way there, here comes Tiffany pops out deer in the headlights," Gutierrez shared.

He recounted the powerful moment she saw him and his workers.

"Didn't say a word, just ran up and all she wanted was a hug," the resort owner shared, "And it was a pretty surreal moment."

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He knew about the ongoing search for the woman, so it didn't take long for him to put two and two together, and he immediately notified the sheriff's office.

What we don't know:

It's unclear how long she had been holed up in the cabin.

Gutierrez said she didn't really know how long she had been missing. "One of the first questions she asked was, 'What day is it?'" he said.

He drove Slaton to a staging point to meet up with deputies.

"Medics arrived with an ambulance to examine her. She was dehydrated, but was otherwise in good condition," the sheriff's office said.

The backstory:

Search teams had been fanning out in the area looking for the Georgia woman who, her family said, went on a solo camping excursion as part of a "bucket list" trip in California's Sierra National Forest before setting off to medical school.

She was camping in the Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake area, according to the sheriff's office.

Her family last heard from her on April 20. Investigators later said they had confirmed sightings of the woman at Huntington Lake on that day and then on April 24 near a general store. But after that, there were no sightings.

Slaton's family reported her missing on April 29th.

"From May 6th - 10th, the Sheriff's Search and Rescue (SAR) team conducted a full scale operation in the mountains looking for Tiffany. The search spanned nearly 600 square miles," the sheriff's office said.

Heavy snow along Kaiser Pass prevented search crews from accessing some areas, but teams used helicopters to conduct aerial searches.

"The crew never found any trace of Tiffany or her belongings," officials said.

During Wednesday's news conference, Slaton's parents, who were in Georgia, also spoke. They said they received the incredible news as they were getting prepared to make the trip to Fresno on Thursday, as the days since their daughter's disappearance were mounting.

"We are extremely excited and happy to hear the news that our daughter is now safe," Bobby Slaton said as he sat next to his elated wife. "We are more than happy. A ton of weight has been lifted."

He said he heard from his daughter as soon as she was able to get a cell signal, on her way down from the mountain resort.

"That was truly when the tears started flowing because I hadn't heard from my baby," the emotional dad said. "She said, 'I'm sorry.' She said, "'Dad, I'm alive, and I'm sorry. But I'm alive. I wanted to call you and let you know that I'm alive."

Dig deeper:

The resort owner may have played a role in her survival. Officials said he had intentionally left the cabin accessible, as he was well aware of the dangers lost hikers can face in the Sierra.

"The owner said he had left a cabin unlocked as a precaution for this exact situation, where someone who is lost could seek shelter and increase their chances of surviving the outdoor elements and harsh weather," sheriff's officials explained.

Gutierrez noted what an incredible feat it was for Slaton to have endured the elements and found a way to survive.

He said that over the years he's encountered lost hikers in dire situations, and so he recently took a wilderness first responders class.

This encounter with Slaton, he said, did not call for him to use any of that training, but he was well-prepared to meet her immediate needs.

"All she wanted was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and we happened to have made a grocery run the day before picking up supplies for the resort," Gutierrez said. "And for whatever reason, we picked peanut butter and jelly as one of the things. And oh my god, she ate as much peanut butter and jellies as she could stand to eat."

On the way down to meet the deputies, Gutierrez said he got to know Slaton a bit and heard some of the harrowing events she endured.

"She could write a book, but it's just unbelievable she survived solely," he said. "This girl was saved for a reason, and we didn't do the saving. It was the Lord that wielded it into her, and man, she's going to serve a higher purpose. That's for sure."

For Tiffany Slaton's parents, as they got ready for their joyful and miracle reunion with their daughter, they were filled with gratitude for the community's efforts to locate her.

"Oh my god. This has to be the third or fourth-best day of our lives, after our children's birth," her grateful father said. "I just thank God for that moment 'cause prayers were answered, and I promise you, a lot of prayers went up."

It was also the best birthday gift the family could have asked for. Thursday marked Tiffany's 28th birthday.