Horrific mystery as crying woman is found tied to tree on California hiking trail
A middle-aged woman was found tied to a tree during a hiking trial in California, hours after a man allegedly held her at gunpoint.
The unidentified woman, believed to be in her 40s, was found by a male hiker on a Pebble Beach trail tied to a tree two hours after she noticed a man following her every move.
Her rescuer and another hiker managed to free the woman, who told police she had been walking on the procession between Haul Road and Highway 68 when she noticed the “suspicious man following her.” Monterey County Sheriff’s Office said.
“He pulled out a gun and walked her to a nearby tree where he then tied her up,” authorities said.
The man then fled on foot.
He is described as a Hispanic man in his 30s with a neck tattoo of a word starting with Z. Police said he was wearing a green hat and gray sweater.
The woman was taking an early morning walk when she noticed her attacker. She had told another woman on the trail that she thought something was wrong with him Monterey County now.
The victim had stopped to let the man pass her and then he came over and held her at gunpoint, according to the local outlet.
The unidentified woman, believed to be in her 40s, was found by a male hiker on a Pebble Beach trail tied to a tree two hours after noticing a suspicious man following her.
The woman was taken to the hospital for a check-up and told police that the man had not injured, assaulted or robbed her
Her rescuer later found her after the Good Samaritan heard her screaming for help.
The woman was taken to the hospital for a check-up and told police that the man had not injured, assaulted or robbed her. KSBW.
Investigators want to hear from the woman the victim stopped to talk to, the outlet said.
The woman was described as wearing a black sweater and walking with a large black dog.
A search was launched to find the perpetrator, including using a Cal Fire drone, but authorities have since found nothing in their investigation, according to KSBW.
“That extensive search was conducted with negative results, finding everyone who matched the description of the suspect given at that time,” deputy spokesperson Andy Rosas told the outlet.
In response, the Pebble Beach Company issued a shelter-in-place order for the maintenance yard and parts of Poppy Hills.
However, authorities declined to issue a shelter-in-place order during the search as it happened hours after the incident.
Her rescuer and another hiker managed to free the woman, who told police she had been walking on the procession between Haul Road and Highway 68 when she noticed the “suspicious man following her.” The victim had stopped to let the man pass her and then he came over and held her at gunpoint
Hiker Gwen Estep said the man’s crime was “sinister” and that the victim was “really abused in a strange way.”
“I hope she’s doing well,” she told KSBW.
The investigation is ongoing.
Earlier this month, a Tennessee man was caught staging a bear attack to cover up the death of a hiker.
The suspect, 45-year-old Nicholas Hamlett, was captured earlier this month in Columbia, South Carolina, police said, ending a multi-state manhunt following the death of 34-year-old Steven Douglas Lloyd.
The search for Hamlett — which lasted nearly three weeks and spanned states including Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida — began in Tennessee near a 45-mile byway that connects the state’s Tellico Plains to North Carolina.
On October 24, police received a call from the area around 11:30 PM from a man, later identified as Hamlett, claiming to be Brandon Andrade.
He told dispatchers he was injured after a bear chased him off a cliff, a story investigators say Hamlett made up.
When police arrived on the scene, they found Lloyd’s body with Andrade’s ID. Police later learned that Andrade’s ID had been stolen and used several times by Hamlett. It is believed he stole it to avoid parole.