Indonesian media has been buzzing with news of a woman declared missing over one and a half years ago, after being swept away by a large wave, who was allegedly found alive three days ago,on the same beach that she disappeared from, and wearing the exact same clothes she was wearing on the day of her disappearance.

52-year-old Nining Sunarsih was on vacation in Sukabumi, West Java, when she was swept away by a strong wave on Citepus Beach, and carried out to sea by strong currents. At the time, eyewitnesses said they heard the woman screaming and waving her hands for help, but they were too scared to go in after her. Search and rescue operations didn’t find any sign of her, until a week after the tragic disappearance, when a dead body was discovered in the area. They asked Nining’s family to come and identify the body, and even though it was reportedly in very bad condition, her relatives were convinced that it wasn’t her, because it lacked a distinctive birthmark on the abdomen, and the fingernails looked very different.

Photo: Tribun News

With no other leads to follow, authorities ordered a DNA test on the found body to confirm whether it was the missing woman or not. They compared the DNA of the body to that of the woman’s son, Wanda, and found that they didn’t match. Still, with search operations yielding no results and the chances of Nining Sunarsih actually being alive after several days lost at sea, authorities called off the search and pronounced her dead.

The woman’s family never accepted the idea that she might be dead, and believed that she was still alive. That’s not exactly uncommon, as people always prefer to keep hope alive instead of giving up on their loved ones. Here’s where this story gets weird, though…

A few days ago, Nining’s uncle allegedly had a dream about the woman, in which she told him to look for her on  a beach in Palabuhanratu, close to the place where she had disappeared from over one and a half years ago. He didn’t pay much attention to the dream at first, but after allegedly dreaming the same thing on multiple times, he finally told the family about it and decided to go look for their long lost relative.

Photo: Tribun News

Nining Sunarsih’s family started searching for her on Saturday, June 30th, but couldn’t find any trace of her on the beach she mentioned in her uncle’s dream. However, they kept searching through the night, and on Sunday morning, at around 4 am, they found her unconscious, all covered in sand.

As if someone showing up on a beach, one and a half years after being swept out to sea, and directing her relatives to the place of her reappearance in a dream wasn’t weird enough, Nining was apparently wearing the same clothes she was when she disappeared, a yellow dress with a floral pattern and black pants.

 

The family took the woman home and cleaned her up, but because she didn’t seem very healthy – which is understandable under the circumstances – they took her to the hospital. She remains hospitalized at a regional hospital, but doctors have confirmed that her vitals are steady and that she is expected to make a full recovery soon.

The details of this story are sketchy at best, but the woman’s family don’t seem to care. To them, her reappearance after such a long time is a miracle from the almighty God, and all that matters is that Nining is alive.

Sources: Tribun News, Kompas, Dudung Pret