A young woman has recalled the terrifying moment she was chased by a naked man while hiking alone on one of Perth‘s most popular bush tracks.
Elizabeth Straughan says she was stalked by the stranger while walking her dog at Canning Mills Reserve, a scenic trail in the city’s foothills, in late September.
What began as her routine walk quickly spiralled into one of the most frightening experiences of her life.
The experienced hiker said nothing seemed out of the ordinary at the familiar reserve until she noticed a man appear behind her on the trail.
At first, she thought little of it, until she realised he was getting closer.
Moments later, the situation took a sinister turn.
Elizabeth said she froze in disbelief as the man suddenly tied his shirt around his face, concealing his identity.
‘The terror just sieged through me. (I thought) what’s going to happen now. I knew. I need to outrun him,’ she told 7NEWS.
Elizabeth Straughan (pictured) says she was chased by a naked man while out hiking
Overcome with fear, Elizabeth’s instincts kicked in. She sprinted down the path, clutching her phone and calling triple zero as she ran.
Emergency operators assured her help was on the way, and within minutes, Elizabeth could hear the wail of sirens cutting through the quiet bushland.
She ran toward the sound, desperate to reach safety.
But when she finally stopped and turned around, the man was gone. He had vanished into the scrub without a trace.
Police arrived within moments and conducted a search of the area, but couldn’t find the man that Elizabeth had described.
Still shaken, the young woman said the ordeal had left her traumatised and hesitant to return to the place she once loved.
‘It really did affect me,’ she said. ‘He’s stripped [me of] my love of nature.’
In the days after she shared her experience, other women came forward with similar stories of encounters on the same track.
Elizabeth was chased while walking her dog at the Canning Mills Reserve in Perth (pictured)
One woman reportedly told police a man had approached her while she was walking with her baby strapped to her chest, and allegedly tried to touch her child.
Locals say the reports have rattled the hiking community, sparking renewed fears about safety on isolated walking trails.
While police confirmed that officers had responded immediately to Elizabeth’s call, the man has not been identified or located.
Authorities are urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
