A mother who was missing for four days in the California mountains has revealed she got lost while fleeing a man with a knife who threatened to rape her and stab her dog.
Sheryl Powell, 60, of Huntington Beach, disappeared on Friday while her husband John parked their car near Grandview Campground, in the White Mountains.
Search and rescue teams including ground, dog and aerial reconnaissance with thermal imaging aided in the four day search.
Powell’s two children Farrah and Greg also looked for six miles on foot every day, according to Fox.
The mother was located two hours after her dog Miley was found in the Montenegro Springs area, two-and-a-half miles away from where they were last seen.
Searchers described Powell as ‘resilient and strong but exhausted after being lost in an extremely remote area.’
The mom was taken to hospital for medical clearance and has been described as healthy.
Reunited at last: Sheryl Powell, 60, is pictured recovering in hospital after she was missing for four days in the White Mountains. Here she is surrounded by husband John (left) and children Greg (center) and Farrah (right)
Rescuers spent four days searching for Powell and her Yorkipoo Miley (left). Trained ground and dog teams were deployed, along with a helicopter with thermal imaging (right), and volunteer search parties
Yorkipoo Miley (left) refused to leave her mother’s side and would eventually lead rescuers to find Powell on Monday
Despite being overwhelmed to be reunited with mother Sheryl, 60, her son Greg revealed her terrible ordeal online. It’s claimed that a knife-wielding attacker threatened to kill her dog if she didn’t do what he wanted
Powell said she was forced to run downhill after being approached by a middle-aged man who threatened her with a knife as she peed behind a tree.
Her son Greg wrote on Facebook that his mom’s attacker told her: ‘”That’s a nice shaved p**** I’ve never had me one of those… you’re gonna do what I want or I’m gonna take my knife to your dog.”’
She fled the area and ignored her husband beeping the car horn and him yelling, not wanting to put them in danger.
From there, Powell mainly traveled by night and kept off the main tracks because she feared the man was following her.
By the time she believed she had lost her would-be attacker, she ‘realized she was quite lost.’
She sustained herself on ‘stagnant water and cactus fruit’ to stave off dehydration, he wrote. ‘When she could no longer walk she scooted as far as she could.’
Despite tying her dog Miley near to water to keep her safe, the dog broke free from her leash and stayed with Powell.
By Monday, the mom began to ‘give up hope’ of being found after a helicopter flew over her. Despite waving and trying to flag them down, they did not see her.
It was the barks of Miley, a black and white Yorkipoo – a Yorkshire terrier-toy poodle – that alerted rescuers to them.
Powell was found just over two hours and around 200 yards away from her dog.
She was then met at Bishop Airport by an ambulance and taken to hospital.
The family feared that Powell (above) and her dog Miley had been abducted after she went missing while on a bathroom break. Missing person posters were handed out in the area
Powell’s family feared she had been abducted due to her vanishing without water or food, and with a dog that could not run far due to having an injured leg. Here are the family (pictured: L-R) husband John, daughter Farrah, mom Sheryl and Greg
Inyo County Sheriff’s Office praised authorities for their search efforts to find missing Sheryl Powell (right) after she vanished on the way to a campsite with husband John (right). They said that teams worked ‘amazingly hard’ in the ‘difficult terrain’ and risked battling ‘rattlesnakes’
Daughter Farrah Powell posted a picture of the family beaming around Sheryl, who was lying down in her hospital bed.
‘SHES ALIVE!!! This is the happiest day of our lives. We can’t thank everyone enough!!!!!!!’ she wrote.
Greg Powell stated that his mom was an ‘amazing human being’ and that she looked ‘pretty good given the situation.’
He wrote: ‘Her first words were 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.
‘We are overjoyed to be reunited with her!’
Inyo County Sheriff’s Office have yet to comment on Powell’s attempted attacker but have written online: ‘The investigations portion of the Powell search continues.’
They praised her family as well as local residents, visitors and their assisting agencies who conducted ‘amazingly hard work in difficult terrain.’
‘Challenges include multiple gullies, shale slopes, low shade, direct sun, and rattlesnakes,’ they wrote on social media.
A helicopter equipped with thermal imaging gear that took part in the search for missing Sheryl Powell
Members of the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office are pictured searching for Sheryl Powell. She was found on Monday two-and-a-half miles away from where she went missing
A volunteer is pictured searching he White Mountains area of California’s Inyo County for missing woman Sheryl Powell, 60
At the time of her disappearance, Powell was described as an ‘experienced hiker’ around 5ft 3 and 120lb, with brown hair and brown eyes. Her dog was estimated to weigh around 4lb and on a red leash.
Joseph initially spent an hour searching for his wife around the spot she vanished from, one mile west of Grandview Campground in the White Mountains.
He walked in circles blowing his whistle and yelling before he raised the alarm via a satellite device that he was carrying.
Powell’s family feared that she was abducted because she vanished without food or water and had no plans to hike as they were just setting-up camp.
Her dog Miley also wouldn’t have been able to run due to having a ‘bad leg.’
At the time Greg wrote that authorities ‘keep insisting she just got lost… I hope they’re right but I think they should be pursuing the possibility of abduction as well.’
Helicopters searched the area with thermal imaging while on the hunt for missing Sheryl Powell who was discovered on Monday
The family promised to return the near $40,000 in donations they received to help charter a private helicopter to find Sheryl Powell. Authorities had said over the weekend that they would use the helicopters for two more days before they would have to cease their search
One of the searchers is pictured while on the lookout for missing Sheryl Powell who disappeared in the White Mountains
Powell’s son Greg shared his joy online after they were reunited
Over the weekend, Greg said that the helicopter search would be called-off in two days if she was not found, leading the family to set-up a GoFundMe campaign so that they could afford to privately charter the helicopter beyond that point.
Greg and his sister Farrah distributed missing posters in the area and searched independently.
Since being reunited, Greg posted a message thanking everyone who assisted them in the search and their fundraising.
‘We couldn’t have gotten through this without you and you all mean the world to us,’ he wrote.
The family have since pledged to refund the near $40,000 in donations contributed to their search.