Gayle Stewart, Missing Nevada Woman Found Stranded on Steep Slope, Has Disappeared Again, Authorities Say

Gayle Stewart was reported Missing March 14
The National Park Service is searching for Gayle Stewart.National Park Service

Gayle Stewart was reported missing on March 14, one month to the day after she vanished in February.

A missing Nevada woman who was found clinging to a tree on a steep slope has disappeared again, authorities said.

Gayle Stewart, 64, was reported missing March 14, one month after vanishing in February, the National Park Service said in a statement. Searchers have been scouring Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where the Reno woman was taking photographs, the park service said.

She was last seen wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, black shoes and black leggings, the statement said. She has blonde hair, blue eyes and is 5 feet, 8 inches tall, investigators said. Stewart, who has been missing for 10 days, did not return to her car in the Bypass Bridge parking area in southeastern Nevada, near Hoover Dam. It is about 475 miles from Stewart's home in Reno.

“She did not have her phone or any identification on her at the time,” the park service said. 

The grandmother was reported missing in Reno on Feb. 14, when she failed to return from a hike. She was found several hours later by a friend of her son, authorities said. Mathew Stewart and his friends joined searchers in the woods near Alum Creek, a popular area for hikers along the Truckee River, near downtown Reno.

“A friend of the son found her injured and stranded on a steep slope,” Reno Fire Department, who assisted in search and rescue operations and helped extract the woman, said in a statement Feb. 15.

Rescuers staged a "miraculous" recovery of the cold and dehydrated woman, who managed to dangle from the tree for hours after falling and hurting herself, authorities said. Searchers formed a human chain to ferry Stewart from the sheer and slippery terrain.

It was “actually kind of a miracle story,” Reno Fire Department Battalion Chief Seth Williams, told KOLO-TV at the time. “The son called up some friends to start searching for her and one of the boys just decided to head off this cliff thinking maybe she fell down there and found her clinging to a tree. He said the last thing she said was ‘help’ and then didn’t talk anymore.“

Stewart's son, Mathew, posted to his Facebook page on Sunday, "The smile I have is yours. You showed me the power of positivity. You taught me how to be happy and grew me into a man. My heart aches."

On March 17, the son posted, "Mom. Wherever you are I hope you are not in pain and you have found your peace. You were the sweetest person I ever knew. You raised me and helped me become who I am today. Your fun loving spirit and positive outlook on the world is something to be admired. I will always remember all the fun we had together. Love you always!"

An interview request sent Wednesday by Inside Edition Digital to Mathew Stewart was not immediately answered.

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