Lost in the Smoky Mountains

This is why I always carry a pack with additional clothing (including wool), fire making materials/stove/lighter, food, some shelter making material (small tarp), etc... even for a short day hike.  You never know.  Tragic!

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/14/air-force-veteran-and-his-2-sons-die-while-hiking-missouri-trail/  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/3/2013 - Still no sign of Derek Lueking

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Missing Teens Found

Getting lost, even on the trails, is easy.

• http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/248114/57/Missing-14-YO-Teens-Found-Safe-In-Smokies-?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10/2/2012 - Kind of a late update but:

It looks like they found Michael Giovanni

• http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/aug/21/remains-found-in-smokies-may-be-man-missing/
• http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2012/09/remains-found-great-smoky-mountains-national-park-belonged-missing-tennessee-man10496

Still no sign of Derek Lueking

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They still haven't found any evidence of the 2 lost hikers (Derek Lueking, Michael Giovanni Cocchini) that went missing in the GSMNP in separate incidents in March.

• Derek Lueking - http://www.wate.com/story/17205861/search-continues-for-missing-hiker-in-great-smoky-mountain-national-park
• Michael Giovanni Cocchini - http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/mar/21/second-man-missing-in-smokies-vehicle-found-near/

 
This is a pretty good article on the search - http://www.smokymountainnews.com/component/k2/item/6619-anatomy-of-a-smokies-search

The CAP even assisted in the search - http://www.tfponline.com/news/2012/mar/23/civil-air-patrol-uses-night-search-missing-hiker/?print

There are three other unsolved missing person cases in the GSMNP.

• Six-year-old Dennis Martin- Knoxville, TN.  He disappeared while playing at his family’s campsite in 1969.  http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jun/28/missing-dennis-martin/

• 16-year-old Trenny Lynn Gibson - Knoxville, TN - Last seen on a school field trip near the parking area of Clingmans Dome with her friends in October of 1976.
• https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/4524
• http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/feb/22/lost-smokies-mystery-surrounds-disappearances-over/

• 58 year old Thelma Pauline Melton - Jacksonville, FL - Disappeared from the Deep Creek hiking trail in 1981.
• http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/feb/22/lost-smokies-mystery-surrounds-disappearances-over/

Folks don't seem to understand how rough the country is or how easy it is to get lost out there and how hard it is to move through the underbrush.  Took this guy 6 - 7 hours to move 1/2 mile - http://www.tuckreader.com/in-lost-hikers-story-a-cautionary-tale/

Some of the things that I have read in other places say that the prevailing thought is that Trenny and Thelma either left the Park on their "own" or were "taken" out of the Park by someone, but that Dennis Martin is still in the park.

Here is a good book on the subject.  It was written by one of the Rangers involved in searching for Dennis Martin and others - http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Rangers-Journal-Search-Rescue/dp/0964173417