A California woman survived six days trapped in the snow earlier this month, living on only a six-pack of yogurt, eating snow and hunkering down during the storm in a broken down vehicle.
The ordeal began when Sheena Gullett, 52, and Justin Lonich, 48, both of Little Valley in Lassen County, got stuck in the snow while trying to drive from Highway 44 to Little Valley on dirt roads during a snowstorm, according to the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office.
Little Valley is about 160 miles north of Sacramento and 115 miles northwest of Reno.
After traveling several miles through a snowstorm, their vehicle became stuck in the snow, sheriff’s officials said.
At about the time they became stranded, Caltrans was sending out advisories to travelers about snow possibly affecting several North State highways, including highways 44 and 299.
After becoming stuck, Lonich and Gullett spent the night in their vehicle, and in the morning they attempted to drive on, but the battery was dead and the vehicle wouldn’t start, officials said.
They decided to leave their disabled vehicle behind and set out on foot. But rather than continue north toward Little Valley, they headed back to Highway 44.
The soles of Gullett’s boots fell off and she soon fell behind. Lonich kept walking, and at some point they became separated, officials said. When he went back to find Gullett he could not locate her because of the heavy snowfall, officials said.
He also could not find the vehicle they were in and Lonich built a camp fire and spent the night outdoors. The next day he continued on, walking as far as a gravel road, where he sought shelter and spent a second night in the woods, officials said.
On the third day, Lonich reached Highway 44, where he hitched a ride into Susanville and at about 2:30 am, notified the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office that Gullett was still stranded in the woods somewhere between Little Valley and Highway 44.
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Sheriff’s officials said it was difficult to narrow down the search area where the two became stranded because Lonich was unfamiliar with the roads where they got stuck.
Officials with the sheriff’s office and US Forest Service searched the area daily, but they were unable to find Gullett.
A California Highway Patrol helicopter was used on one day when there was a break in the weather. But the snowstorm prevented officials from using the aircraft beyond one time, officials said.
On Wednesday, April 20, Lonich rode out with a sheriff’s deputy, while a sheriff’s sergeant and forest service employees also searched for Gullett in separate vehicles.
After several hours of searching, the sergeant found their vehicle at about 3 pm
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“Immediately upon his arrival, Sheena (Gullett) came out of the vehicle. She was very emotional, but physically okay,” officials said in a news release.
Gullett was taken to the forest service Bogard Ranger Station off Highway 44 for medical evaluation. She relayed to officials the same story that Lonich had — that they became separated during the storm and she returned to the vehicle.
“During the six days Sheena was stranded, she rationed a six-pack of yogurt, eating one per day. She did not have any water and had been eating snow,” officials said.
She said during the time she was stranded she saw a helicopter fly overhead a “few days earlier” but the crew couldn’t see the vehicle because it was in a heavily wooded area, she said.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism