i'm really scared. please help me. >> did that young woman think that she was going to die? >> tonight, the "20/20" exclusive. >> you feel ready for this? an amazing story of survival. >> that incredible survival story. >> lost in the grand canyon. >> 119 hours of terror. >> a college student alone on a spring break road trip. led astray by google maps. >> turn right. >> lost for days in the hot arizona desert. >> i remember screaming a lot, "please come back. please help me." >> no gas, no cell service, and no one to talk to, except prairie dogs and herself. >> i don't think i've ever been

this scared. i don't want to be alone anymore. >> that first night, you gave your will and testament. >> driven to record a cell phone good-bye, a video diary for her loved ones. >> this is the first time you've ever listened to this? >> in case i don't, like, get found. >> tonight, follow along as we retrace this horrifying journey. >> surrounded by hundreds of square miles of wilderness, and you can see just how easy it is to get into trouble here. >> the near misses. her father desperate back home. >> i was in the wrong place, the wrong place -- >> until finally, her life or >> at what point did you decide that you had to rescue yourself? >> good evening thanks for joining us this saturday night. i'm david muir and i'm elizabeth

vargas. so many of us depend on our gps. what happens when that goes terribly wrong. >> you're about to meet a college student who tells us she thought she might end grave. >> just take a moment to take it in. the grand >> reporter: just take a moment to take it in. the grand canyon. a geological spectacle, 6 million years in the making. >> it is absolutely beautiful. and that's why it's one of the seven wonders of the world. >> reporter: it's no wonder 5 million tourists trek here every year, just to breathe in its pure serenity. they return home with pictures and souvenirs and sun burns, but nobody comes back with a story like amber van hecke. >> i did do right things, even if i did make mistakes. and if i can just share those things that i did right with everyone, and if that even saves

one life, then that's worth it, i think. >> reporter: her journey to the brink of death and back began a thousands miles ago. it was spring break at the university of north texas in nearby denton. and while so many students were off to do the beach and booze thing, amber had her own idea of fun. when people think spring break, they're going off to cancun, they're not going off the grid. i mean, your decision was to go basically into the wilderness. >> yeah. >> reporter: why? >> i was in a sorority at my old school and i had my experience of the drinking and the partying, and i didn't like it. i didn't find it fun. >> reporter: the choice wasn't out of character. amber had always been an outdoorsy, active type, a girl scout and a junior rotc, developing skills that will soon come in very handy. >> amber was a student that had a lot of personal drive. she had a forceful attitude

about self-improvement. she was the one that tried the drill teams. she tried the color guard. >> reporter: that intrepid spirit fueled her decision to take this trip. alone, by car, all the way there and back. it's pretty courageous of you. >> i don't know if i'd call it courageous. it's more of a stubborn, probably. because i didn't want a let a lack of company stop me from finding adventure. >> reporter: amber comes from a tight knit family. in nearby plano she and her sister, kayleigh, raised by two loving parents -- dad, steven, an i.t. guy. and mom,annette, who, among other things, was amber's girl scout troop leader. what kind of kid was amber growing up? >> bouncy. full of wit, full of rapier wit. >> she's always been outgoing. and we were kind of two peas in a pod. and i would help her come back, and she would help me go forward and be a risk taker. >> there's so many things that she said that were just so smart. >> reporter: what's that favorite word that you use? >> fernweh. >> reporter: fernweh?

>> yes. >> reporter: what's that mean? >> it's -- a longing for places you've never been. >> reporter: but earlier this year, a pair of hard setbacks. amber and a boyfriend endure a painful breakup. and then, her mom and dad do the same. >> i think that had definitely taken a mental toll on me. and that was part of what drove me, like, yeah, i need to get out of town for a minute or two. >> she would always ask me how i was doing. >> always. always trying to be strong for everyone. >> yeah. >> i truly believe that she deserved a break and deserved this trip. >> reporter: how long had you been preparing for this trip? >> as far as actually actively getting supplies, i only started, like, the week of. but i'd been planning it for a while, because i wanted to figure out unique places at each of the states on my route to stop at. but i think the day before was when i actually went and got food for it. and got my seeds, nuts and dried fruit and some apples and my raman. >> reporter: before she hits the road in her trusty ford edge,

amber announces her trip on facebook. "i'm so psyched for my spring break road trip. i'm starting at carlsbad caverns in new mexico. from there i'm headed to the grand canyon national park." and you actually posted on facebook, i said, hey, i have a seat or two if anybody wants to come with me. >> i did. but none of my friends could take off work or disappear, so. >> reporter: but amber does have one companion. one that will be a central character in this story. her smartphone. even, you know, girl scouts, junior rotc people, people who know how to navigate, we still rely on these things. >> it's convenience, really. touch of your fingers, everything you need. >> reporter: aside from the standard google maps navigator, amber was also using a special app which enabled her dad back home in texas to keep track of her. >> reporter: and your phone would automatically ping back your location. >> it would send my approximate bearing, latitude, longitude as well as my speed. >> reporter: wow.

march 11th, amber's first stop. the breathtaking carlsbad caverns of new mexico. a series of massive caves, one so big its called the chandelier ballroom. she posts this video on facebook. >> so, in the cave, we're supposed to whisper, so -- it's nice and cold down here. >> reporter: her sleeping arrangements on the road trip? an improvised bed on wheels. so, have you slept in this car before? is this something you have already done? >> yes, sir. i like to travel cheap. >> yeah. >> so, instead of hotels i'll sleep in my car. have a nice bed setup back here. >> reporter: wow, this looks pretty comfy, actually. back in texas, her dad, stephen, pings her phone to confirm her location. >> where i'd gotten a gps for her, she was just west of albuquerque. >> reporter: and at 12:40 a.m., amber sends a text saying she's bedding down for the night. "okay, baby, love you big," he

writes. she replies, "times two!" they don't know it yet, but this will be their final communication. the next day's itinerary takes her 420 miles to the southern rim of the grand canyon. but before she gets there, she stops here. the ford needs gas. so, when you saw $2.70 a gallon, you think -- >> that's a lot. >> reporter: so, amber only pumps in about a third of a tank. >> i was trying to, like, skimp here and there. >> reporter: right and every dollar counts, i mean, if you are driving a couple thousand miles, you want to make sure you buy the cheapest gas. >> yes. >> reporter: it's supposed to be a money saving measure that will soon prove extremely costly. how often did you think, if i just put 5 more dollars or half a tank instead of a third of a tank? >> a lot. a lot. every day. and i could have spared myself a lot of grief.

>> reporter: 119 hours of grief, to be precise. >> oh, my god, where's the road supposed to be? my heart just panics. >> reporter: and as you're about to see, all of it is documented diligently on amber's phone. >> i'm really scared. please help me. >> reporter: stay with us.

>> we continue with more of 020 saturday. >> reporter: it is sunday, march 12th, day two of amber van hecke's great american road trip. and her fernweh, that favorite term of hers for wanderlust, is in high gear. where did you go next? >> to the grand canyon, actually. >> reporter: the grand canyon is on most americans' bucket lists. and now, amber is fearlessly checking it off hers. >> and i assured my mom, "she's okay."

i have an undying, like, faith and trust in my sister that can take care of herself. because my sister's strong. >> it didn't occur to me about getting lost in the desert. because i have really decent navigation skills. >> reporter: along with those skills, she's also got a navigation app, the always reliable google maps to be precise. she types in the name of her next destination. the havasu falls trailhead, a remote spot in the grand canyon with aqua blue plunge pools so popular, it requires a reservation. that's the trailhead? >> yes. >> reporter: it's in the middle of nothing. >> yes. >> reporter: all right, let's go. it says 63 miles. and you only had 90 max on your tank. >> uh-huh. >> we return with amber to this fateful spot. the place where, directed by her smartphone, amber turned off

highway 64 and onto this dirt road. >> google said to go on a road that i didn't see. and i went against my better instinct. i trusted google maps, which i shouldn't have. >> reporter: let's face it. we're all too dependent on our devices to get us places. and amber's not the first to discover that can nearly get you killed. just ask donna cooper. back in 2010, she, too, trusted her gps and followed it blindly during a trip through death valley. nearly finding out for herself how one of the hottest places on earth got its name. >> it just kept saying, you know, go this distance and make a turn, make a u-turn. there's nothing there. we were out of gas. we were out of road. we were out of everything. >> reporter: "20/20's" jay schadler saw how navigational technology can sometimes be dangerously outdated. >> turn right on golden canyon road. >> reporter: i don't see a road. what we have here is a canyon wall.

>> oh, definitely. the road used to go at least a mile in here, but that washed out in 1976 in a flash flood, so, this road has not existed for 35 years. >> reporter: and a similar gps shortcoming is about to threaten amber's life, as well. after she makes that fateful turn off highway 64. >> turn right. turn right. >> reporter: so, we're making a right. it's already a dirt road. and so you thought that this would be a blacktop road? >> i had thought so. and then when i got on it and it -- it seemed like a really -- >> reporter: wow. >> -- well taken-care-of gravel road. >> reporter: but it is a gravel road. >> yes. >> continue for 14 miles. >> reporter: so, we're barely a mile off the road and we're driving in empty space -- check that out. >> even if you had a compass and a map, look around. you don't have known points.

you don't have mountain peak, you can't do that out here. you don't have anything. it's rough. >> reporter: and so with night now falling, amber drives for another hour and a half. farther and farther into the middle of nowhere, which is actually right in the middle of gary wilson's 1,200-mile square ranch. one of the biggest in the west. >> it's happened to several other people, trying to get across this ranch. google earth tells you that you can, but this ranch is actually closed. >> i couldn't really see very well. just whatever my headlights lit up. >> reporter: and what her headlights lit up next spelt trouble. >> and then, about when i came to the fence and i was like, oh, there wasn't a road here. that's when i was like, this is not good. >> reporter: what goes your through your mind when you hit that fence? >> oh, my god, where's the road supposed to be?

that's when i tried going into the gps app, and telling it to take me back, help me take me back, and it was like, sorry, you have no internet service, and my heart just panicked. >> reporter: and at what point do you start calling 911? >> i called 911 as soon as i realized i didn't have the road anymore. >> reporter: as amber frantically dials 911, for a fleeting moment, a connection. >> i was in such a panicked state. when they said, "what is the nature of your emergency," i just let out a sob and i said, "please help me." and i heard it drop. and i just -- >> reporter: it's still tough for amber to recall. as her panic swells, her most precious resource dwindles. >> i was trying to watch my gas. i'm like, come on, rubbing, like, petting my car, like, come on, baby, just a little further, we got to find a road. >> reporter: is that orange light blinking yet? >> oh, it had been blinking. so, i was like, okay, i'm going to stop for the night, because i'm just wasting more gas and i'm digging into my reserve more and more as i drive on and panic.

>> reporter: amber parks along the first manmade structure she finds, hoping this sign of civilization might mean possible rescue. >> and hoped for the best. got in the back. i was like, i'm going to try and sleep. >> reporter: but instead, her mind races to the loved ones who have no idea where she is and who may never see her again. who was the first person you started to think about? >> my dad. throughout my life, he's been my rock, and that's when the thoughts of, like, maybe i should leave a message in case something happens. that's when i made the first video. >> reporter: a video diary in total darkness. her face not visible at all. >> i've never really been, like, scared for my life before now. in case i don't, like, get found, i have a lot of things to say. >> reporter: it was basically a will and testament. >> i thought that it had the potential to be the beginning of the end.

i love my family, mom, dad, kayleigh. i just want to go home. i don't even want to do this trip anymore. i'm so scared. >> reporter: when we come back, amber hatches a plan. she'll move heaven and earth to save herself, praying for some help from above. stay with us.

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>> reporter: monday, march 13th. as dawn breaks over the arizona horizon, amber van hecke awakes inside a sprawling 1,200-square mile prison of solitude. and continues the video diary of her ordeal. >> i just wish someone would drive by, or that someone would come looking for me. >> reporter: she's out of gas. she can keep her phone charged through the car battery but it has no cell service. so, amber is left terrifyingly unmoored from the two great anchors of modern life -- transportation and communication. >> hopefully, it doesn't take too long to be found.

got other things i got to do. >> reporter: she's actually stranded on that vast cattle ranch. amber's car sits in the shade of this empty, rusted tank, meant to hold water for the livestock. and look, this dirt road runs nearby. >> usually we have a cowboy in this area, and he would have run onto this lady. >> reporter: but as rancher gary wilson explains, that cowboy will not be moseying by anytime soon. >> he was gone for about five days, and that just happened to be the time that she was out here. just the timing was all wrong. >> reporter: back home in plano, amber's father stephen is late for work, and he's growing concerned that he hasn't heard from amber. >> i'm surprised i still have my job actually, because i snapped at my boss that day, because i was worried about her. >> reporter: at 12:45, he pings amber on her locator app. there is no response. 15 minutes later, he calls her cell phone. there is no answer.

>> freaking out a little bit. >> reporter: but now, amber is determined to help herself. and remember, she has ten years of girl scout training and junior rotc honors. now, it's time to put that knowledge to use. >> sure, she was scared. she was frightened. but that did not cause her to freeze. she did the things that she knew to do the best way she knew how to do them. and that's courage. >> reporter: there is one encouraging sign of human life, one hope flying overhead. that's the passing of an occasional plane or helicopter. there were signs of civilization literally right above your head. >> yes. >> reporter: what was that like? >> intensely frustrating, because it was like, "please see me. please see me. i need some help now." >> it's not like we're flying just looking for people out there, because we know there's no people out there. >> reporter: the airspace is used mostly by tour companies and commercial pilots for

native american tribes. daniel lyons, a local pilot, points out that even if amber were signaling an aircraft, she'd be tough to see. >> the rocks don't change all that much, so, what's the point of looking out at the same rocks? >> a helicopter just flew by. i got out of my car and waved as frantically as i could, but -- i guess up there, it's hard to notice small things on the ground. >> reporter: so amber makes some big things on the ground, pulling large rocks out of the dirt. she arranges them into a 20-foot-long plea for help. she's picked a spot with darker earth - hoping the contrast with the rocks will make her plea more visible from up high. she also makes a fire with the hopes that billows of dark smoke will alert planes flying by, but the smoke just isn't dark enough. >> for the life of me, i can't get anything here to burn black. it all just burns gray or not at

all. everything in the desert is too dry. >> reporter: but there is some good news. amber's brought plenty of food and water. she just needs to ration them meticulously. >> three bottles a day should last me for at least a week and a half. >> reporter: her moxie isn't running out either, but as the hours stretch out, she succumbs to moments of misery. >> you know, in movies, they always just show the rescue. they don't really show the panic parts in between, the fear. i just want to go home. in the moment, there were so many what ifs, like, what if i never get found? what if i get caught by an axe murderer out here in the desert and no one would ever find my body? >> reporter: yes, but the dark,

and you're thinking skorp i don't knows and maybe snakes and coyotes. that had to be terrifying. >> i've had an experience with a scorpion. it stung. i didn't like it. >> reporter: night descends again. so, too, does the thought that she may never make it home. amber records this meditation on mortality. >> i feel like you're supposed to have more profound thoughts when you think you're going to die. i guess i should ask myself, "did i make a difference in the world?" i mean, i know i didn't. i'm only 24. i haven't done anything meaningful yet. i guess at this point, i'm just counting on my father constantly checking in for him to notice that something's awry. >> reporter: did that young woman think that she was going to die? by tuesday, march 14th, stephen van hecke is legitimately worried. he's gotten no calls, no texts, no word at all from his daughter. >> and when you still can't find her, the numbness sets in.

like you're dead inside. >> reporter: he holds out hope that she's just out of cell phone range while camping at the havasu falls. in reality, she is struggling through her third day alone in the desert. >> it gets freezing here at night, like really cold. i got to wrap myself in two blankets. comforter and a jacket. but during the day it's pretty warm. >> reporter: warm enough, in fact, to heat some of her ramen noodles on the car. the noodles somehow -- >> i don't know if it was warm enough to be considered cooked, but it was definitely al dente. >> reporter: very nice, yeah. her plan? just stay put until help arrives. just stay alive. just stay sane. so, what kind of things did you think about, just to make the time pass more quickly? >> i read a lot. and went through a lot of books. it could have been 12, it could have been more. >> reporter: she also made

contact with some of the locals. these craters that pepper the lunar-like landscape are actually prairie dog burrows. >> i've been watching the little prairie dogs that live around here because this place is riddled with prairie dog burrows. they are really cute. i've got cows, prairie dogs and coyotes for company. and bugs. >> reporter: coming up, a sudden chance of a rescue roars by -- >> i tried to chase down a truck, but they didn't see me in their rearview. >> reporter: but leaves amber in the dust.

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>> reporter: it's been three long days since amber van hecke's smartphone gave her some pretty dumb directions. >> turn right. >> the 24-year-old now finds herself at the crossroads of desperation and despair. isolated near the grand canyon, she's out of gas and nearly out of time. making matters worse, a series of near misses, as she tries to connect with someone, anyone. it's now wednesday, march 15th. amber wakes up frustrated, with the situation and with herself. >> been out here for 63 hours

now. something like that. i feel so dumb. >> reporter: back in texas, with her parents worried sick, dad begins an active hunt for his daughter. >> i posted in the private facebook. i said, "look, my daughter's missing. i need some people to try to find her, and this is the last place i saw her." >> reporter: the problem? stephen references amber's last known location in new mexico, where her app pinged him back on saturday. >> and i was sending them to albuquerque. >> reporter: but basically, you're looking for your daughter. >> in the wrong place. >> this is awful. i hate it. i hate being helpless. >> reporter: another day slides off the calendar. but suddenly, the moment amber has been waiting for. rescue appears to be an arm's length away. a red truck kicking up a trail of dust heads toward her. there was that one day with that

truck rumbling right past you and you hear that word again and you start shaking. >> seeing that truck, i was like, someone close by, not in the air, but several hundred feet, they should see me. they are right here. >> reporter: how far was your car from the road when that truck passed? >> i'd have say maybe seven feet. but the silo blocked me from their view, so it's not their fault at all. >> reporter: sensing this could be her last chance at survival, the spring breaker springs into action. barefoot. car and tried to run them, not thinking about my feet, not thinking about anything else, because i was like, if this is where i get out, it doesn't matter. but i couldn't keep up. with how much dust and stuff there was kicked up there was no way they would see me. >> reporter: out sprinted by a pick-up truck, the image of the barefoot millennial soon disappears into a cloud of dust. another entry for the video diary.

>> i just tried to chase down a truck, but they didn't see me in their rearview. i'm okay. >> reporter: with nothing but time on her hands, amber begins to question her own choices. >> afterwards, i was like, i should have just honked my horn, they would have heard that. there was so many things after the fact that i was like, i should have done this, i should have done this. and i just beat myself up about it. my feet are torn up, because i wasn't wearing shoes at the time. so, i'm going to have to rethink traveling east or west tomorrow. my car is officially out of gas, i tried driving a little bit and i backed it up to closer behind this thing but it won't go any further. >> reporter: frustrated, she builds a roadblock to prevent another vehicle from passing her by.

>> that's the incident that caused me to barricade the road. i built a little rock thing and put this head lamp i have and for when i do cave diving and that. i set it on strobe, put it on top. >> reporter: in the dark of night, the diary continues. >> almost exactly 100 hours out here now. and all i can keep thinking is how much i want my daddy, and mom. i don't want to be alone anymore. >> reporter: what was the thing that you yearned for most as you were sitting there, day after day? >> a hug. i felt so alone and disconnected from everyone. all i really wanted was just to be hugged and held and comforted. >> reporter: but how much is she willing to risk to get that hug? is she willing to leave the safety of her own vehicle? in a well-known incident, recounted in the documentary "wrong turn," the kim family got stranded in the oregon wilderness.

>> james kim and his family disappeared while returning from a thanksgiving road trip to the northwest. >> reporter: after waiting for a rescue that never came, patriarch james kim left on foot to find help with disastrous consequences. he walked 16 miles before dying from hypothermia. now amber faces the same question. at what point did you decide that you had to rescue yourself? >> by about the fourth day, i figured, there should have been at least a search out, but i hadn't seen anything, heard anything, and that truck helped me realize that if i was going to get out, i had to do it for me. >> reporter: the nearest gas station is 40 miles away. the nearest drink of water is a two-days walk. surrounded by hundreds of square miles of wilderness and you can see just how easy it is to get into trouble here. out of options, amber decides to make her move. the plan? to stay along the road and walk

as far as she can, as fast as she can in search of a cell signal. but as luck would have it, while she's out on the road, the calvary shows up at her makeshift base camp to rescue her. >> it's a bit of a letdown. when you say okay we found her and nobody is there. >> once again, amber is at the wrong place at the wrong time. when we return. ♪

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we continue with "stranded" and more of "20/20" saturday. >> reporter: it is the morning of friday, march 17th. while the rest of the country is celebrating st. patrick's day, amber van hecke decides to make her own luck. >> woke up feeling hopeful today

so, we'll see what happens. >> reporter: she abandons the safety of her immobilized car, and sets out in search of a cell phone signal. >> i didn't want to stray off too far in a direction that didn't follow a road, because i didn't want to not be able to find my way back. >> reporter: amber takes me back to the desolate spot where she wound up on her long desperate hike. >> but it's amazing. you can see flagstaff mountain so clearly from here. >> that's actually why i chose to walk that way. because flagstaff has cell towers on it, and i knew that. so, that would be the best bet. >> reporter: that's pretty smart. after hiking painful miles on injured feet, dialing 911 more than 70 times -- suddenly, like a ray of hope, a cell phone signal. at long last, amber makes contact. what did it feel like to finally get a signal and after five days, speak to a human? >> all i could think was desperation, more so than relief at that point. it was just mostly desperate to get out the right information, so that they could send someone. i started crying. and saying, "please help me."

>> reporter: she tells the operator she's somewhere between havasu park and the highway that goes into the southern rim visitor center. >> and she's like, "in the grand canyon?" i was like, "no, ma'am, i'm in the desert. and i've been here for five days." and i don't what she was going to say after that, because it was gone. >> reporter: that's right, gone. the call, dropped. the lifeline goes dead. >> i was just -- heartbroken, i guess in that moment. because i wasn't sure how search and rescue worked. i knew they needed information to find out where i was. i wasn't sure if they wouldn't send someone, if they didn't have enough information. and i wasn't sure where they would be looking, or if they would be looking in the right place. and i was wasting daylight. i was like, i need to get back to my car before dusk, because i don't want to abandon my shelter or the food and water that i have. and i decided to head back and try again the next day. >> we have a virtually unreadable 911 call, no location. a woman who's panicking. >> reporter: amber doesn't know it, but help is already on the way. authorities scramble the

arizona department of public safety rescue team. pilot jonah nieves and paramedic edgar bissonette. >> the message we got from coconino county was that there was a female, who said that she was somewhere between havasupai and the south rim of the grand canyon. she's been stranded for five days, please help. and then the call dropped. >> here we go. >> reporter: amber had provided just enough information to point nieves and bissonnette in the right direction. retracing their route, they show us how they spotted something not uncommon in the desert. the sun glinting off something shiny. >> and jonah looks in that direction and he says "oh, i see a glare." >> reporter: but that glare is far from the search area. and they debate whether to detour miles out of their way. finally choosing, on gut instinct, to take a closer look. >> let's go check this glare out. it -- who knows? it might be what we're looking for. >> reporter: it was a fateful decision.

>> and right off the bat, jonah says, i see a "help" sign. and i look down and we see the, must have been 20, 30-foot letters, word "help" written out of rocks on the ground next to the car. and we're like, this has got to be it. >> reporter: they land the chopper. but there's nobody in sight. >> it's a bit of a letdown when you circle an area and say, okay, we found them, and nobody's here. so, okay, where are they? what happened to them? >> reporter: miles away, amber had seen the helicopter pass you see that helicopter tear over you and you're trying to wave to it and get attention -- and it keeps going. >> i ran to the top of the next hill, i was like, please see me. and then the helicopter was gone. i didn't know where it was. and so, i was crying while walking, which is the ugliest cry you can probably do. and just hoping they would come back.

>> reporter: become at the car, amber wisely had left this message. >> in a nutshell it said, "i'm not here. i walked east along the road to find cell phone signal, if you're reading this sign, please help me." and jonah said, "let's go." so i went back into the helicopter, we loaded up and continued down the road from there. >> and then, i heard a chopper again. and that's when i saw the speck getting bigger. >> and we flew east. and i'm looking off to the left, jonah's got the road in front of him. and at that point, i'm scanning and jonah says, "i got them. eyes on." i look and i see someone jumping up and down in the road waving at us. >> and i was like -- they're coming for me! >> reporter: that's a good feeling, isn't it? >> yes. yes.

>> next thing you know, i'm two feet from her, first thing comes out of my mouth was, "did you call?" >> he's like, "hi, did you call?" and just sort of a joke, you know? and all i could answer with was, "hi." and then sobbing, ugly sobbing. i was just like -- and holding onto him. and i feel so bad. because i was just like, human contact! >> reporter: did he hug you back? >> yes, he did. and then he was like, you know, put his arm around me and helped walk me towards the helicopter. >> reporter: the crew reassures amber she's going to be okay. >> i was like, "i feel so dumb for getting stuck out here." >> and i said, well, you know, you did everything right, besides running out of gas. and if i had to get lost i wouldn't mind getting stranded with you, you know what you're doing. >> and i'm like, thank you. >> reporter: the helicopter flies amber straight to the hospital in flagstaff. there, she calls her parents.

>> i can't even explain the relief of hearing her voice. >> i said, where are you? i'm glad you're alive, what you are doing? where are you at? she goes, i'm sorry, papa, and i was like, what are you doing apologizing for? i've been worried sick about you. she goes, i thought you were hunting for me. i said, i was, in the wrong place. in the wrong place. >> reporter: what was your reunion like with your dad? >> he just held me while i cried -- and picked me up in a hug. it was nice. >> reporter: but sometimes just one hug isn't enough. >> hey, papa. >> reporter: as we saw when we were interviewing amber and her

dad arrived. still ahead, one more reunion.

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a woman stranded in the arizona desert for five days. >> this was 119 hours of terror. >> reporter: for five days, amber might as well have been on the dark side of the moon. but now, back on the grid, she's pretty easily recognized. >> i read about you! >> reporter: amber is still healing, both physically and emotionally. you still have on your hospital band? >> yeah, it's a sentimental, weird thing i do. previously, when i've had these, i don't take them off until i'm over whatever i went through. and i'm not over it, not yet. >> reporter: now, two weeks after she was found, a surprise for amber. we reunite her with two special guests. >> edgar and jonah! hi. >> how are you doing? >> it's good to see you guys. >> edgar and i want to get you a little something, a small little gift. we want you to come back out to arizona, but -- we want you to

do it on a full tank of gas this time, so, here's a gas card for you. >> thank you. i'll make sure to fill up. >> yeah >> reporter: safely back at home with her friends and family, who she thought she might never see again, she makes a final video diary. >> this has been a whirlwind of emotions. but i feel like i have less anxiety now about the entire thing, which is good. i feel like it's time for me lose the wristband. and -- i think that's the next step. there we go. all done. >> reporter: knowing what you know now, would you go on another solo road trip again? >> eventually, i will. i'm not going to let fear stop me from doing anything in this world.

>> one very happy reunion. the takeaways, obviously spring for a full tank of gas. and the old school maps, the paper ones, they still work. google did not respond to our requests for comment. >> a gps industry source previously told abc news, it is important for drivers to keep in mind that gps devices are to be used as navigational aides only, it's still the responsibility of drivers to exercise common sense. good advice. that's our program tonight. i'm elizabeth vargas. >> i'm david muir from all of us here at "20/20" thanks for watching and have a good night. happening now in france, a big election is just getting under way that could have

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