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If he actually grabbed her arm and scratched her with his nails as she has said, then there could easily have been enough epithelial cells for them to swab from the wounds and get a DNA profile of her alleged attacker. I just think the whole thing sounds so ignorant. They say she's an experienced hiker, but she runs for what must have been hours away from someone in the desert? It's not like there is heavy tree cover to cause her to lose her sense of direction. Did she run towards, or away from, the setting sun? Downhill? Past any obvious landmarks? Up and down several hills? Did she hide and try to see if he was following her? Upon finding a spring with good water, why did she not just stay there and wait for rescue? Pretty much EVERY experienced hiker knows that continuing to move around only exacerbates efforts to find you. Anybody remember that the rule is to hug a tree? When she saw helicopters, did she move out into the open? try to find higher, clearer ground to make herself easier to see? Did she take off her shirt or pants and wave them to try to signal them? None of the story makes sense.
You make an excellent point. Once LE got there why would this "guy" hold her? They were making a lot of noise calling out for her and looking for her. You'd think he'd be petrified of being caught. LE were there within what 2 hours of her going missing?
I also thought the same with scraping or swabbing for DNA
Sheryl made it sound like the man was hot on her heels all day since she supposedly kept fleeing for hours. His only way out was to return to the campground, his car, and the road. If it was more than two hours after the incident, the deputies would have spoken to him along with the other campers. Of course, at that time they didn't have a description of anyone they were looking for other than her, but they or other people there would have remembered later if a man who was burly, bald, etc., had suddenly showed up.
This is an interesting point. He could have gotten away simply by walking to his car, like any other camper, and driving off. But I thought there were no other campers or cars nearby. I don't remember how I got that idea, though. I thought it was in the first report.
If he actually grabbed her arm and scratched her with his nails as she has said, then there could easily have been enough epithelial cells for them to swab from the wounds and get a DNA profile of her alleged attacker. I just think the whole thing sounds so ignorant. They say she's an experienced hiker, but she runs for what must have been hours away from someone in the desert? It's not like there is heavy tree cover to cause her to lose her sense of direction. Did she run towards, or away from, the setting sun? Downhill? Past any obvious landmarks? Up and down several hills? Did she hide and try to see if he was following her? Upon finding a spring with good water, why did she not just stay there and wait for rescue? Pretty much EVERY experienced hiker knows that continuing to move around only exacerbates efforts to find you. Anybody remember that the rule is to hug a tree? When she saw helicopters, did she move out into the open? try to find higher, clearer ground to make herself easier to see? Did she take off her shirt or pants and wave them to try to signal them? None of the story makes sense.
She did say, that when she saw the helicopters, she realized she had to get to higher ground.
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"This too shall pass. But possibly, like a kidney stone."
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I think I've hit on one of the things that makes people so skeptical.
When this story broke, there was the description of her with a matching picture saying she was an experienced hiker.
Going with that, we're all imagining a woman who was independent, resilient, and makes very sound decisions.
What we're left with is a woman who is extremely flighty - such that she didn't even respond when she could hear cops yelling for her on a megaphone, and her description of the cactus fruit defies belief. And walked around for 4 days covering the space of an hour walk.
Looking at her now, I think it is possible that when confronted with an attacker, she did the unthinkable - running off into the desert and avoiding the police and her husband.
I'm beginning to think the term "avid hiker" when applied to her means that when placed on a trail with companions, she can hike a good long way.
I think I've hit on one of the things that makes people so skeptical.
When this story broke, there was the description of her with a matching picture saying she was an experienced hiker.
Going with that, we're all imagining a woman who was independent, resilient, and makes very sound decisions.
What we're left with is a woman who is extremely flighty - such that she didn't even respond when she could hear cops yelling for her on a megaphone, and her description of the cactus fruit defies belief. And walked around for 4 days covering the space of an hour walk.
Looking at her now, I think it is possible that when confronted with an attacker, she did the unthinkable - running off into the desert and avoiding the police and her husband.
I'm beginning to think the term "avid hiker" when applied to her means that when placed on a trail with companions, she can hike a good long way.
Agree 100% with what you're saying. I also doubt she's experienced unless with others. This whole story makes no sense.
I think I've hit on one of the things that makes people so skeptical.
When this story broke, there was the description of her with a matching picture saying she was an experienced hiker.
Going with that, we're all imagining a woman who was independent, resilient, and makes very sound decisions.
What we're left with is a woman who is extremely flighty - such that she didn't even respond when she could hear cops yelling for her on a megaphone, and her description of the cactus fruit defies belief. And walked around for 4 days covering the space of an hour walk.
Looking at her now, I think it is possible that when confronted with an attacker, she did the unthinkable - running off into the desert and avoiding the police and her husband.
I'm beginning to think the term "avid hiker" when applied to her means that when placed on a trail with companions, she can hike a good long way.
Yes, I saw the video interview where she said she "smashed a cactus and saw the fruit inside." Huh???
She comes across as very inexperienced, naive, and impulsive. She clearly didn't know what general direction she should be walking in. She didn't know to climb upwards so she could see where she was and/or be seen by helicopters; she kept going down. She didn't have the sense to stay by a water source once she had found one.
Of course she and her family want everyone to believe she survived the incident because she was so strong, wise and experienced. Actually, it sounds like sheer dumb luck. Her choices could easily have led to her dying out there in the wilderness, a mere 2.5 miles from safety.
I think I've hit on one of the things that makes people so skeptical.
When this story broke, there was the description of her with a matching picture saying she was an experienced hiker.
Going with that, we're all imagining a woman who was independent, resilient, and makes very sound decisions.
What we're left with is a woman who is extremely flighty - such that she didn't even respond when she could hear cops yelling for her on a megaphone, and her description of the cactus fruit defies belief. And walked around for 4 days covering the space of an hour walk.
Looking at her now, I think it is possible that when confronted with an attacker, she did the unthinkable - running off into the desert and avoiding the police and her husband.
I'm beginning to think the term "avid hiker" when applied to her means that when placed on a trail with companions, she can hike a good long way.
Right. Not only did she hear her husband calling her (which she admitted to), now we know there were cops driving around with megaphones, calling her (which she never mentioned). We also know, that she was only 2 miles or less from where she disappeared, so by the time the cops arrived (2 hrs. or so after her husband called LE), she probably was within earshot of the megaphones, right? I wonder if that mountain wall at the end of the road would have created an echo, from the megaphones.
The cactus fruit story is possible, if they were ripe in that location at the time. She knew enough to know, that cacti are a potential water source. Being out there, and afraid and increasingly desperate, one would resort to trying to eat cactus. Apparently , she was disoriented enough (giving her the benefit of the doubt), that she had no idea she was within an hour's hike or so from the campground...?
Could she really have been unable to guesstimate how long she'd been running/escaping, and roughly how much distance that travel time had covered? I guess if you're lost in the wilderness, you have no idea which direction to go in. Like the Maui hiker, who only wandered slightly off the trail, and suddenly had no idea which direction to go in, to get back. Plus, she would have feared that the bad guy could be waiting for her back there. Except, he wouldn't be, because the place, as far as she knew, was crawling with police and searchers (she could see the helicopters). And she said she was no longer worried about him, after the first day.
Yes, I saw the video interview where she said she "smashed a cactus and saw the fruit inside." Huh???
She comes across as very inexperienced, naive, and impulsive. She clearly didn't know what general direction she should be walking in. She didn't know to climb upwards so she could see where she was and/or be seen by helicopters; she kept going down. She didn't have the sense to stay by a water source once she had found one.
Of course she and her family want everyone to believe she survived the incident because she was so strong, wise and experienced. Actually, it sounds like sheer dumb luck. Her choices could easily have led to her dying out there in the wilderness, a mere 2.5 miles from safety.
I don't get this part. Her hands should be ripped to shreds from cactus spines.
Part of the problem is the sloppy journalism. I just saw an article which said she "found a spring with stagnant water" lol.
The people interviewing her don't have enough sense to probe further, clarify and make sense out of what she tells them.
I'm also concerned if LEO doesn't believe her. They should know more than we do and must have their reasons.
They know people are speculating about it. They had no qualms about clearing the husband when people were speculating about him.
I think I've hit on one of the things that makes people so skeptical.
When this story broke, there was the description of her with a matching picture saying she was an experienced hiker.
Going with that, we're all imagining a woman who was independent, resilient, and makes very sound decisions.
What we're left with is a woman who is extremely flighty - such that she didn't even respond when she could hear cops yelling for her on a megaphone, and her description of the cactus fruit defies belief. And walked around for 4 days covering the space of an hour walk.
And discussed her nether regions with her son upon her return.
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