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SANDY — A hiker has spoken out after she was attacked up Little Cottonwood Canyon. After her ordeal, she has been warning others not to hike alone.
Police have been looking for her attacker since the assault happened Wednesday on Little Cottonwood Canyon’s Temple Quarry trail.
“I was hit over the head with a branch and I fell forward,” said Talia, who requested KSL not use her last name or age. “I was kind of dazed.”
Talia described the suspect as a “young man.” She said he tackled her and began to choke her.
“I immediately started screaming for help trying to get someone’s attention. I had my water bottle, a big Hydroflask, in my hand and I was trying to hit him with it,” said Talia.
In those moments when she struggled to fight him off, Talia said it was scary not knowing how or if it would ever end.
“He got me into a chokehold. I’m still screaming trying to get someone’s attention, and finally some women were coming up the trail and they saw him,” she said. “He looked up and he saw them, and he immediately took off into the woods.”
The women helped Talia calm down and together they called 911 emergency dispatchers.
Investigators from the Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake said so far they have no leads and a very generic description of a young man, but they have been patrolling the area.
A brave young woman speaking out exclusively to @KSL5TV to warn others after she was attacked hiking up Little Cottonwood Canyon yesterday. Police still looking for the the suspect. Her story at 6 on #KSLTVpic.twitter.com/XwVbSMIrMo
— Felicia Martinez (@FeliciaKSL) April 30, 2020
Meanwhile, Talia said she just wants others to be aware.
“I was very, very lucky for things to have worked out the way they did, and I don’t want anyone else to be in that same situation – especially because he’s still out there and he could do it again,” she said.
Talia said this was her first and last time hiking alone and wants to warn others to always hike with a buddy.
