By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – A Bloomington Police detective calls it a Christmas miracle.

Carmon Edwards, 53, of Bloomington, who had been missing since Christmas morning, is alive and well.

Authorities say a Good Samaritan from Mattoon took Edwards to Illinois State Police headquarters in Pesotum, in Champaign County, just before one o’clock Wednesday afternoon, after they heard news reports about her disappearance.

Edwards family filed a missing person’s report after she didn’t show up at family gatherings Christmas Day in Tazewell County.

Bloomington Police Detective Jeff Engle feared the worst, given the bitter cold temperatures and that her car was found abandoned in Mattoon about 7:30 Wednesday morning.

“After 24 hours, you believe that it’s not good, especially with finding the car with nobody in it,” said Detective Engle.

“The Good Samaritan took her in for a night or two.”

“Since this has been shared in social media, which has been awesome, they saw that she was missing out of Bloomington, and so he drove her to the State Police headquarters, District 10, and they walked in there and immediately called me,” said Engle.

Now, the detective said he’s so relieved.

Bloomington Police say through social media, authorities were able to get the word out about the woman to more than 800,000 people.

Edwards’ daughter Lindsay said on her Facebook page that the past couple of days have been a “hellish nightmare.”

Lindsay said it feels like a “true miracle” that her mother is safe. She also thanked Bloomington and Mattoon Police, Illinois State Police, and particularly the Good Samaritan who came to her mother’s aid.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]