Teen Awakes From Sleepwalking 9 Miles From Home, Police Say

Taylor Gammel, 19, was missing for three hours before she woke up.

ByABC News
November 3, 2015, 5:27 PM

— -- A teenager who walked 9 miles while asleep, according to police, is speaking out about her bizarre experience.

"It's a shock to me that I made it that far," she told ABC News.

Taylor Gammel, 19, was missing for at least three hours last week after she walked out of her parents' home in Denver, Colorado. Police said that they think Gammel was asleep as she traveled 9 miles to an area near her uncle's home.

"First thing I remember was just walking, it took me a minute to realize I wasn't dreaming, but that I was actually walking," Gammel said about waking up in the middle of her stroll.

The teen's parents reported her missing around 6 a.m. on Oct. 27 and police used bloodhounds to search for her in the hours she was missing, police said.

"You can imagine, I think it was three hours that my wife and I ... [were] just going crazy worrying about her," said her father Steve Gammel.

Taylor Gammel said when she woke up, she realized that she was near her uncle's house and was able to go there and contact her parents. She was wearing pajamas and socks for her long trek, and she said she started feeling the effects of her journey soon after waking up.

"Yeah, [my feet] hurt rally bad after a while. My legs, too," she said. "There are so many things that could have gone wrong or happened. I'm really lucky."

Nearly 4 percent of people report sleepwalking within the past year, according to the American Academy of Neurology, which also noted that some conditions, such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder, make it more likely,

Gammel said it's just something that happens to her from time to time, noting that she and her family take certain precautions.

“We have an alarm at my door. It has to be set on the outside once you shut it so every time I open it, it like goes off,” she said.

Dr. Shlini Paruthi, a board-certified sleep specialist and associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at St. Louis University, said Gammel's 9-mile walk is not unheard of.

"It’s a subconscious state and for the most part [sleepwalkers] do look awake. ... They have their eyes open and they have a glassy look to their eyes," explained Paruthi. "They can do simple behaviors and walk down steps. They can do routine behaviors. ... Kids will urinate in the wrong place or they wake up in the wrong place."