Spaniard's Bay woman disappears from New Year's Eve party, found outside Mount Pearl store

Police are investigating what happened to a Spaniard's Bay woman who went missing from a party in the Bay Roberts area on New Year's Eve.

A missing persons report was filed to the RCMP on Saturday evening.

CBC News has learned the woman turned up hours later on the parking lot of a hardware store in Mount Pearl, about 80 kilometres away.

She called 911 from the parking lot of the Kent store on Old Placentia Road in the early morning hours of New Year's Day.

Sources say the woman, who was on foot, could identify the store but didn't know her exact location, so emergency crews were dispatched to all Kent stores on the Avalon.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said Tuesday that it provided assistance at the time of the incident but then handed the investigation back to the RCMP.

The RCMP is now investigating where the woman was and what may have happened to her while people rang in the new year.