LEICESTER, N.Y. -- A 21-year-old woman with special needs is going through treatment for dehydration and malnutrition after she turned up Thursday night, according to Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty.

Three evenings prior, Starrlita Smith was seen leaving her home on Perry Road in Leicester, which eventually led to large-scale searches. On Thursday alone, more than 60 volunteers and police searched nearby railroad tracks, the Genesee River and trails all the way to Mount Morris.

Deputies, police dogs and family members had all searched the house and the densely-packed adjoining garage, which Smith walked into the house from about one hour after the search was called off Thursday. The sheriff said Smith told her parents she had been asleep.

"I'm not going to say 100 percent that she hasn't been in there for three days, but we didn't locate any type of evidence like food wrappers or urine or feces or anything like that either," Dougherty said. "That's all part of our investigation; now we have to see, are we feeling a strong opinion that she has truly been in this garage and we missed it? Or has she been out and returned? And if she has been out, where exactly has she been?"

Authorities say Smith, who was taken to a hospital, functions on the level of someone who is 6 to 12-years-old.