Family of missing hiker holding search this weekend in Pendleton County

PENDLETON COUNTY, W.Va. (WHSV) - As the case of Gabby Petito gained national attention, more eyes are being put on the case of a hiker in Pendleton County who has been missing for more than six months.

25-year-old Cassie Sheetz was last seen March 11 hiking with two men she knew near Spruce Knob. The two men made it out of the woods after they told police the group became separated at night.

Police say the two men did not know where Sheetz went.

For months, West Virginia State Police have searched the area of Spruce Knob but have found no trace of Sheetz.

“It tears me up every day because there’s nothing more I can do,” Arlene Shelton, Sheetz’s mother said. “I’m trying so the only thing I can think of is to keep her in the media to keep her in everyone’s face so someone will get something.”

A Facebook page for Sheetz has grown in followers over the last week, and this Sunday the family, along with a group of volunteers, will be searching the area in which Sheetz went missing.

Shelton says the group will be meeting at the parking lot of Spruce Knob and will be walking the Huckleberry and 274 trailheads. She says these areas were the last places the two men told police they saw her daughter.

“I’m hoping not to find anything and I don’t know what I would do if I came across my daughter’s body,” Shelton said. “In my heart, I don’t feel like she’s dead and in my heart, I don’t think she’s on that mountain.”

The group will be meeting at 9 a.m. and will begin to search after a half-hour briefing of the area.

Shelton says she’s looking for closures and asks if volunteers would like to help to dress warm and stay hydrated.

For more information on Sunday’s search effort, click here.

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