Sheryl Powell, 60, went missing on Friday near Grandview Campground in California’s White Mountains. Her family suspects foul play. Photo: GoFundMe
Update (July 15, 3:00 p.m. PDT): Search and rescue teams located Sheryl Powell and her dog alive at around 2:00 p.m. on Monday, according to a statement posted to Facebook by the Inyo County Sheriff. Read more here.
Some stories hit close to home, others hit like a Volkswagen-sized meteor crashing through your living room roof. For me, it’s the latter. Since Friday, search parties have been hard at work searching an area near Grandview Campground in California’s White Mountains for Sheryl Powell, 60, who has mysteriously gone missing. Powell is the mother of my wife’s childhood friend who we’ve known since elementary school and their family is a huge part of the social fabric of Huntington Beach, California – a community that’s been reeling since news first broke of Powell’s disappearance. Monday marks four days since she went missing. And as authorities ramp up search and rescue efforts, her family says the most logical possibility is she was abducted.
At about 1 p.m. last Friday, Powell went missing one mile west of Grandview Campground in California’s White Mountains, just outside of Bishop, a GoFundMe started by the family reads. She and her husband, Joe, were on a camping trip and when they reached their campsite, she reportedly got out of the car with their dog to wait in the shade and let the dog go to the bathroom while Joe moved the car. When he came back to the site, Powell and the dog were gone without a trace.
Joe Powell searched the site and surrounding area for an hour then contacted authorities by sending an SOS signal on a satellite device. Inyo County officials immediately responded and over the past four days have been actively searching using aerial assistance and thermal imaging. They have also reportedly opened a criminal investigation.
“At this time we don’t have like any proven suspects and we don’t have evidence to point directly to criminal activity, but we’re looking at all possibilities,” Sgt. Nathaniel Derr, a search and rescue coordinator with Inyo County Sheriff’s Office, told NBC News.
According to the GoFundMe page authored by Powell’s family, Inyo County authorities are looking into the possibility that Powell got lost or that the dog got away – both of which her family says aren’t totally feasible. For one, Powell didn’t have any food or water and had no plans to hike. And their dog weighs four pounds, was on a leash, and has a bad leg so it’s unlikely she got away. Powell is also an experienced camper and hiker – logging 24 miles per week – so the theory she somehow got lost in the few minutes her husband was away moving the car is also hard for her family to believe.
The page also explains that in the criminal investigation authorities are focused on Joe Powell and the couple’s friends as suspects. They say this is absurd because Sheryl and Joe Powell had a loving relationship. Several comments online by members of the community, my wife included, echo this sentiment. Joe Powell has refused to leave the campsite since the incident occurred.
Today marks the most substantial day of search and rescue efforts since Powell went missing, her daughter Farrah told me over the phone. She said the past few days searches have typically gone from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. despite the sun rising well before then and the sun setting well after. “Today is the first day they were out here early searching,” Farrah said.
Initially, Farrah and her brother Greg launched a GoFundMe to raise funds to charter a helicopter in the event their mother wasn’t found before Inyo County officials withdrew aerial assistance. The effort raised its $10,000 goal in just six hours. Now, Farrah told me, the objective has shifted as they’re considering retaining a private investigator and continue to pressure state police to devote more resources to the search and investigation. The GoFundMe has now reached over $24,000. You can contribute here.
Editor’s Note: If you have any information that may be useful please contact the Inyo County Sheriff’s office at (760) 878-0383. The family also implores those wishing to help to contact Congressman Harley Rouda and Governor Gavin Newsom‘s offices asking them to devote more resources to the ongoing search, specifically state police.
