California woman who went missing for four days says attacker chased her into backcountry

A California woman who went missing for four days in the remote White Mountains near the Nevada border says a knife-wielding man chased her into the backcountry.

Sheryl Powell, 60, of Huntington Beach, told ABC's Good Morning America the man accosted her while she was walking her dog as her husband set up their campsite.

"All of a sudden some guy pops out from behind a tree or something," Powell said, describing the incident she said led to her disappearance. "It was scary, I was really very nervous about the fact he was threatening to do my dog harm."

In an interview with NBC, Sheryl Powell described the man as, "a big guy, burly, bald headed, tanned skin."

She said his initial approach, "scared me enough to act pretty docile and let him think I was going to go along with him."

She also told NBC she bolted as soon as she had the chance. She said she didn't feel safe that he was gone for about a day.

"I never saw him again after the first day," Powell said.

Her disappearance touched off four tense days of investigation and searching by the Inyo County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies interviewed people at the campground and used a loudspeaker to call out for Powell and her dog, Miley. Search and rescue personnel also combed the area, using people on foot, dogs and helicopters.

For days, the search and investigation bore no fruit. Searchers found little to no evidence of Powell and Miley, and investigators turned up no reports of suspicious people, vehicles or activity in the difficult-to-reach area.

The sheriff's department reported the family, including Sheryl Powell's husband, Joseph Powell, were helpful and quickly eliminated the possibility that Joseph was connected to the disappearance, as had been inaccurately speculated on social media.

As the search wore on, family members urged investigators to consider the possibility Sheryl Powell had been abducted. The sheriff's office said they were considering all leads and searchers remained focused on the immediate area.

Dog barking led rescuers to woman

Late Monday morning, searchers reported finding Miley about 2.5 miles from the campground. A short while later they found Sheryl Powell, alive but exhausted.

"It was Miley’s barking that alerted the search and rescue personnel to her presence. They found her some 200 yards away," Sheryl's son Greg reported on Facebook. "My mom is an amazing human being and she looks pretty good given the situation. Her first words to us were, 'I’m so sorry I put you through that, you guys must have been so worried,' just proving how selfless she is."

The Inyo County Sheriff's Office also reported that searchers were happy to have found Sheryl Powell and Miley alive. 

"We're grateful that Mrs. Powell and her dog were found alive and well," the department reported on Facebook. "Our office is actively investigating the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. We have no further information at this time."

On Tuesday afternoon, the Inyo County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook the description of the person Sheryl Powell said had threatened her and asked the public to contact them with anything that might help in the investigation.

"Now that Mrs. Powell has been rescued and is back with her family, our primary concern is public safety," the post, which included the description from Powell of the assailant, stated. "Short of Mrs. Powell’s eyewitness account of the suspect, there have been no other reports of someone matching this description or incidents reported in Inyo County that are similar to this."

The Grandview campground, where Sheryl and Joseph Powell were preparing to camp, is located east of Bishop, Calif., at about 8,600 feet in elevation in the White Mountains.

The campground lacks water and takes about an hour to reach from Big Pine, Calif., in the Owens Valley via steep, winding, two-lane roads.

The Powells arrived Friday afternoon with plans to camp. Sheryl Powell decided to take Miley for a walk while Joseph Powell set up camp.

"I really hadn’t planned to be gone more than a few minutes," Sheryl Powell told "Good Morning America."

'It was absolutely terrifying'

When she didn't return, Joseph Powell said he started calling and searching for his wife, growing increasingly frantic as time passed.

"Finally after about 45 minutes I knew I was in a complete panic," he said in the televised interview. "It was absolutely terrifying."

With no cellular reception in the area, Joseph Powell used a satellite-enabled device to call for help.

The Inyo County Sheriff's Department reported receiving the call at 1:53 p.m. and that two deputies arrived at 3:18 p.m., followed by a search-and-rescue coordinator who arrived at 6 p.m.

The deputies used sirens and a PA system to call for Sheryl Powell and received no response.

Sheryl Powell said she knew her husband was looking for her but she couldn't return because of the attacker chasing her.

"The guy was between me and my husband so I went the other way," she said during the ABC interview.

By the time she felt she was safe from attack, she realized she was no longer in the same canyon.

She said having Miley with her was a comfort and helped her survive in the steep, harsh terrain.

"I had somebody else to care for, somebody who needed me," she said on television.

The Inyo County Sheriff's Department says investigators are continuing to work on the case, but they haven't reported suspect or vehicle descriptions beyond what Powell provided or warned people to avoid the area.

Anyone who may have been in the area and witnessed anything is urged to call the Inyo County Sheriff's Department at (760) 878-0383 and press option 4.

Benjamin Spillman covers the outdoors and environment in Northern Nevada, from backcountry skiing in the Sierra to the latest from Lake Tahoe's ecosystem. Support his work by subscribing to RGJ.com right here.