Nevada woman who was found clinging to tree on steep cliff has gone missing again, officials say
A Nevada woman who vanished on Valentine’s Day and was then rescued clinging to a tree on a steep cliff has disappeared again, officials said.
Gayle Stewart, 64, was found last month on a slope in a hiking area in her hometown, Reno. She is now missing for the second time in consecutive months, federal authorities said, but this time her last known whereabouts were hundreds of miles from home.
Stewart was last seen March 14 in the Bypass Bridge parking area near Hoover Dam, the U.S. Park Rangers of Lake Mead National Recreation Area and special agents of the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch said in a statement.
“Stewart had traveled to the area to take photographs and did not return to her vehicle,” officials said.
A spokesperson for Lake Mead National Recreation Area confirmed in an email Tuesday that Stewart is the same woman who went missing in northern Nevada last month. There were no updates on her most recent disappearance, officials said.
Stewart’s relatives could not be reached for comment.
Stewart has blond hair and blue eyes. She stands about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 155 pounds, officials said.
She was last seen wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, black leggings and black shoes. She did not have her phone or any identification on her at the time.
After she was first reported missing on Valentine’s Day, Stewart was found in a fairly common hiking area of the Caughlin Ranch neighborhood with a lot of dirt roads, NBC affiliate KRNV of Reno reported. She was found on a dangerously steep slope in an area where people do not usually walk.
Stewart was initially totally unresponsive and hypothermic to the point where she had stopped shivering. It is not clear how she ended up clinging onto the tree on the slope.
Fire officials said she was missing one shoe and that both legs had “quite a bit of trauma,” meaning she could have fallen down the slope.
Anyone with knowledge of Stewart's disappearance or whereabouts is urged to call or text tips to 888-653-0009 or to provide an online tip, officials said.
CORRECTION (March 23, 2022, 5:10 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misidentified the TV station that reported where Gayle Stewart was found last month. It is NBC affiliate KRNV of Reno, Nevada, not KRDV.
