Missing person (Resolved)

Use this forum to stay informed on missing persons alerts, active SAR's and unfortunate hiker accidents we can all hopefully learn from. Any information you may have on a missing person, including first hand weather related information or any other insight (however little) may prove to be critical information to Law Enforcement / SAR in locating the person in question.
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fpb56
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Missing person (Resolved)

Post by fpb56 »

A Huntington Beach woman was reported missing near the Grandview Campground in the Bristlecone Pine Forest area 2:00 p.m. on Friday, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said.



NBC LA reports Sheryl Beth Powell, 60, and her dog Miley reportedly vanished from the campground while husband Joseph Powell repositioned their Jeep, a task, family members said, that only took five minutes. Her husband said when he returned, his wife and their 5-pound black and white Yorkipoo dog were gone.

Sheryl Powell, described as an experienced hiker, is 5’3″, 120 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes, Inyo County Sheriff’s said. She was last seen wearing a purple top, and her dog had a red leash.

Joseph Powell searched for an hour before notifying officers of his wife’s disappearance through his satellite device.

“My parents have an extremely loving relationship and my dad (who has refused to leave the campsite) is on the verge of breakdown,” said son Greg Powell in a Facebook post Saturday.

Greg Powell said there are no traces of his mother except for the footprints she left at the campground. He said current search efforts have been inadequate and search crews understaffed.

Her son believes Sheryl Powell, who will be listed as a missing person Sunday, might have been the victim of an abduction. He said police are “refusing to acknowledge” the possibility, stating that she might have gotten lost during a hike or she might have been lead offsite looking for her runaway dog. Greg Powell said neither scenario is likely.

Inyo Search and Rescue and the Inyo Sheriff’s Department began an immediate search of the area after receiving the notification on July 12, the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office said.

Aerial search equipped to detect thermal imaging was provided by CHP-Inland Division Air Operations, Inyo County Sheriff’s added. Ground searches were provided by Inyo SAR, Mono SAR and China Lake Mountain Rescue Group.

Greg Powell said the helicopter will stop searching for his mother if she is not located in two days. He created a GoFundMe page to raise money to continue chartering the helicopter in case she is not found before then. If she is found, he will refund the proceeds.
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Re: Missing person

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GrandviewC1.jpg
Have been following this story because it is a bizarre puzzle. Here is what that area looks like on the topo:

https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=37.3298 ... 3&z=15&b=t

Details are few as police and SAR have annoyingly clammed up as they usually do. They didn't even say if husband noticed other vehicles at campground as midweek it is often totally empty. Obviously authorities dislike the general public involved in these cases or knowing what is going on though I can never imagine why? The husband thinks she was abducted while authorities expect she got lost. But search has now gone on for 4 days since she and dog disappeared Friday afternoon. Some analysis.

Ignorant web news site commenters not surprisingly immediately have been pointing at the husband but that makes little sense unless it was due to some kind of marital blow up that got physical and then the husband concocted a stupid excuse. Highly unlikely to be due to a premeditated plan blaming abduction because that ridiculously remote area is not the kind of place with psychos and about the last kind of place anyone but a moron would make a plan to do so. And of course that is why authorities keep rejecting that speculation.

The Grandview Campground at 8600 feet is a really long ways out on a very little traveled paved road just 2 miles south of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest boundary and is where those visiting that forest often camp at because one cannot overnight in the reserve as in no camping. The campground itself is waterless and dusty, with vault toilets. Not the kind of place one would expect to find some maniac abductor but then recall that psycho that burned down the ABPF visitor center. (Lets hope some judge didn't let him loose again?) That area would be about the last spot a pervert psycho with a plan would try to abduct a woman because police could easily block that long windy paved road before an abductor could escape notice. Otherwise if it was an abduction, the perpetrator might still be up there and because swarming authorities would be sure to check any vehicles in that zone on 4wd roads, that would be unbelievably stupid.

So lets say she got lost. Driving up the road, one can readily see that Owens Valley is a mile below vertically and that the snowy Sierra Nevada is across that valley. That is a prime reason besides the forest people visit there. The lost woman and husband are both avid hikers and probably were well aware of where they were. If such is true then if she did get lost, she would not have like some fool kept going down from that ridge line but rather would have climbed up in order to eventually cross the paved road. Thus the lost idea does not make sense.

Supposedly she and dog got out so dog could pee. Maybe she also decided to do so and walked off, got lost, got sick, or fell and became unconscious. Well if so the tiny dog would still be active that one would expect SAR with aerial surveillance would have noticed the first day of searching.

Another bizarre scenario is a pair of mountain lions grabbed both her and dog and dragged them off. Unlikely, horrible, and remotely possible. The top of those mountains is not the kind of places lions would venture to because there is little for them to eat as deer have no reason to forage in such dry areas. But deer might explore the Black Canyon stream areas that is 1200 feet below and lions could follow them to such areas. So yeah who knows what lions might do?

By this time one would expect bloodhound dogs would have been used. And police after coming up empty on day 2 would have re-interviewed the husband a lot more seriously.
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Re: Missing person

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Inyo Co Sheriff's Dept:
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Update 7/15

Post by maverick »

Inyo Co Sheriff's Dept:
Update- 11:30am- searchers have located a dog matching the description of the dog that was with missing camper Sheryl Powell. The dog is alive, and was located 2.5 miles from Mrs. Powell’s last known location.
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Re: Missing person

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Re: Missing person

Post by fpb56 »

What happy ending? I only see they found the dog so far. Am I missing something?
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Re: Missing person

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They found her alive and she is now in the hospital with family.
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Re: Missing person

Post by SSSdave »


Much thanks to Inyo SAR and all authorities involved in successfully finding what was apparently a lost woman. A very interesting story awaits with more details. Shows again we must not give up even days later as many of our roadless areas are vast places that can easily swallow up a confused weary lost person at our human scale.

She ended up 2.5 air miles and 1400 feet lower in elevation. In order to explain how she did not do the obvious when she found herself lost, I'll speculate she may have had little or no knowledge of a map of the area and had not paid attention what was passing by while her husband drove up the road. In 2015 while up backpacking above Sabrina, I was questioned by SAR after a gal from a group also became lost. Although she was a somewhat experienced hiker, she always relied on following her husband. After establishing camp, the next day a group began day hiking to Midnight Lake along the trail but she decided to turn back beyond the Dingleberry Lake area.

One of the group related for years she just tended to follow her husband. From that I suggested they look below Dingleberry where its outlet creek follows down the canyon which was exactly what one of the SAR folks expected and that indeed was where she was found. Although we may find that case and the current one quite different, there is wisdom in anyone that enjoys hiking in remote places to bother understanding at least a minimal level of what is going on from a map in order to be reasonably self sufficient if they need to be.
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Re: Missing person

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https://abc7.com/oc-missing-camper-chas ... s/5397637/

ABC 7:
INYO COUNTY, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of a Huntington Beach hiker who was found Monday, days after she vanished for days in the Inyo National Forest, says she was chased by a man with a knife.

Sixty-year-old Sheryl Powell disappeared near the Grandview Campground in the Bristlecone Pine Forest area July 12.

She strayed away to find a place to use the restroom, when a man who appeared to have been hiding out in the area chased her down the hill, wielding a knife.

Powell's family said she thought the man was chasing her.

Powell, who is described as an experienced hiker, traveled at night to avoid dehydration. She also managed to find water and a cactus to eat, but after a certain point, she couldn't walk any further.

Ground search teams used aerial reconnaissance and thermal imaging to find her.

Searchers described Powell as "resilient and strong but exhausted" after being lost for days in an extremely remote area, according to the Inyo County Sheriff's Office. She was transported to a local hospital for medical clearance.
Her husband said she went to take their dog for a walk while he moved their Jeep. The dog, Miley, was found Monday morning about 2 miles from where Sheryl went missing, authorities said.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

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Re: Missing person

Post by schmalz »

I wonder if the knife wielding man is the same person who abducted Karlie Guse last year.
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