Has anyone seen me lately? 'Missing' woman takes part in search for her

Plus, a man dresses as Bigfoot for a prank gone wrong, Japan puts first sewage-powered car on the road, a cow is rescued from a tree and mor e of the week's strangest stories in News You Can Lose.

A missing woman turned up and joined the search for herself, not realising she was the objective of the rescue mission.

Iceland police said the tourist was reported lost after she failed to return to her bus.

According to reports, the woman had in fact just left the bus to freshen up but because she had changed her clothes, no one recognised her.

Instead a search party was organised, with the woman joining in because she did not recognise the description of herself.

It was several hours before the misunderstanding was cleared up, with the local police chief admitting that the woman "had no idea that she was missing."

Bigfoot a big mistake

After dressing up in a camouflage suit to make himself look like Bigfoot, a prankster was run over and killed by a motorist who failed to see him.

Officials in Flathead County, Montana, said the man was wearing a full-body Gillie suit meant to disguise snipers in an apparent attempt to pass himself off as the mythical creature, also known as Sasquatch,

He was hit by one car while standing on a road and then run over by a second motorist.

A highway patrol officer explained "obviously his suit made it difficult to see him."

Very renewable energy

The world's first vehicle powered by sewage has been unveiled in Japan.

It has been developed by a company that makes lavatories in what it claims is an attempt to "raise awareness" about green issues.

Powered by gasses from a tank filled with livestock waste, the three-wheeler is reported to have a range of nearly 300 kilometres.

The manufacturers, Toto, say it has no plans to produce the vehicle commercially.

Retired, not grounded

After 63 years, the world's oldest flight attendant is hanging up his wings.

Ron Akana, 83, started work in 1949 after answering a newspaper advertisement. At the time he was a student at the University of Hawaii and thought the job would take him to the mainland of the US, "which was a huge deal in those days".

He worked for United Airlines until his retirement last week after a flight from Denver.

Akana estimates he has flown 320 million kilometres but says his travelling days are not over yet because "I got terrific travel privileges."

Cow is out on a limb

Everybody knows firefighters rescue cats in trees, but it's not too often that they have to free a cow caught in one.

Emergency services in Cumbria, UK, came to the aid of the cow named Sparkle that had tumbled down a 10-metre embankment before coming to rest in the branches of a tree.

It took four hours for three fire crews, who were wearing body armour to protect against stray hooves, to get the bovine out of the tree. It was sedated for the operation.

"The vet checked the cow over and it seemed reasonably happy and relatively unscathed," said Sandra Armstrong, the mother of the farmer who owns Sparkle.