Woman Survives 6 Days Stranded In Snow In Lassen County Near Little Valley

LITTLE VALLEY (CBS13) -- A woman survived being stranded in the snow for six days in a remote area of Lassen County near Little Valley, said the Lassen County Sheriff's Office.

On April 18, 2022, at around 2:30 a.m., Lassen County Sheriff's deputies received a report of a woman, 52-year-old Sheena Gullett, who had been stranded in the snow for six days. The report came from 48-year-old Justin Lonich who told the officers the story of how he and Gullett had been separated.

On April 14, a thursday, Gullet and Lonich had been driving to Little Valley on dirt roads off of Highway 44 when their vehicle became stuck in the snow.

After spending the night in their car, the next morning they realized the car's battery was dead.

When they attempted to walk to Highway 44, Gullett fell behind due to the soles of her shoes falling off and Lonich went ahead to get help.

After some time, Lonich went back to find Gullett but was unable to locate her due to the heavy snowfall.

Night was falling, so Lonich built a campfire and found shelter for the night.

The next day, Lonich continued searching for Highway 44 and but was unable to find it and spent another night outdoors.

The following day, Sunday, Lonich was able to reach Highway 44, where he hitched a ride into Susanville and immediately reported Gullett missing and stranded in the forest, possibly with their vehicle.

Crews began to search for Gullett, however, they didn't make much progress as Lonich did not know the area he had walked through and thus was unable to provide helpful details for the search.

Due to the inclement weather, crews had trouble conducting a thorough search.

On April 20, the following Wednesday, crews finally were able to locate the vehicle with the help of Lonich.

When they found Gullett at around 3 p.m., she was emotional but uninjured.

Gullett told them that during the six days she was stranded she had rationed a six-pack of yogurt, eating one per day. Since she had no water, she told them that she ate snow to survive.

She even mentioned that at one point she saw one of the search helicopters flying overhead but due to the fact that she was in a heavily wooded area they were unable to spot her.

"The Lassen County Sheriff's Office Command Staff commends the efforts of all personnel involved in searching for and locating [Gullett]. Through their efforts, she was found safe and is now back home. Also, special thanks go out to the California Highway Patrol and the US Forest Service for their assistance," wrote the Lassen County Sheriff's Office.