Woman Missing Near Clingmans Dome

[MuddyWaters]

Autopsies are public record
So concerned parties can request it if they really really want to know

Most are confident of cause of death
The puzzle is how ended up where did
Took several mistakes in row

Unless phone had data, unsent texts, pinge, etc, may never know for sure

[Dogwood]

Agreed... even though I know most of the trails pretty well, I never go into GSMNP without the trail map. Combined with the signs at each intersection, it's all you GENERALLY need to avoid getting lost.
There are a few man-ways or old re-routed trails that can trip you up... but with situational awareness, you can usually find you're back on the main trail (because the unlabeled trail has been rerouted) or you quickly find you're at a dead end and simply back-track to the last intersection.

It's usually a cascading of events, often including unexpected or unplanned for events, that lead to such situations.

HKDK, it's CD- in the mountains of Appalachia @ 6000+ ft, rain and likely mist and fog with leaves still on the trees meaning reduced visibility to a high degree, alone(2 pr of eyes, ears, nose and brain are better than 1 pr, reduced awareness again?), early to mid wk, day hiker with limited gear, and more importantly very likely limited to no over-nighting in foul weather survival without a ton of gear abilities(like most commenting), likely had no GPS/no Compass/real navigational ability, etc. Maybe(likely), she thinks she has less than a .5 mile downhill quick trail walk to the CD road and circle. She has health or medical issues or goes off trail for what she thinks will be a quick bathroom break. Suddenly she can't find the trail ala Geraldine Largay. As Tipi said in the beginning of the thread, and I've related from a LT Mt Mansfield experience, and others have related about visibility and non/limited visitation times around CD, one can be less than 50 ft from a well used trail and not be aware it is there. You wander away in the wrong direction but "situational awareness" tells your brain to go downhill to the paved road which is just through the misty trees. You wander more. Why don't I hear anyone, a vehicle, something but these darn rain drops? It's getting chilly and dark. Still NO TRAIL, no road, no sounds, no signs of where you're. Oops,......a cascading of events, situational awareness just took an unexpected turn.

Largay should not have stayed uninjured with dwindling supplies ultimately and for so long turning her rescue completely over to S&R. There are estimates she stayed in the CS she was found for up to a month. She should not have relegated her ultimate rescue to electronics and unknown connectivity. She had the "greater' resources for self rescue!

[Dogwood]

With all the expensive high tech equipment employed on the search I would like to know how they ultimately found her.

It's not high tech by itself that S&R always solely rely. It's one tool.. one big resource but not the only one. Sometimes it's still boots on the ground that ultimately, hopefully sooner than later, gets people found. Create a personal profile. Investigate. Bring every resource available to bear - tech, what electronics like maybe a cell ph she had in her possession, last known state of the individual, last to have contact, last know whereabouts, human tendencies, tendencies of the individual, likely tendencies of individuals in her situation, all available records, experienced S&R, various S&R boots on the ground searching techniques, most likely scenarios,...

[scope]

...You wander away in the wrong direction but "situational awareness" tells your brain to go downhill to the paved road which is just through the misty trees. You wander more...

I think in your example, she had already hiked a fair distance, so I don't think it was a bathroom break. By that point, she likely would've been happy to have been come upon by another hiker. However, I do think the "downhill" situational awareness thing might have come into play at the AT intersection, choosing downhill (to parking in her mind perhaps, but of course away from CD and parking actually) rather than uphill to CD. And we're presuming poor visibility as the reason signs are missed, but if that's the case, why didn't the daughter return down the same path to her mom instead of going to the top and then I guess down the paved trail to parking. Why would she continue to the tower if visibility was poor? Wondering if poor visibility was even an issue, at least at first when several signs seem to have been missed. Makes you wonder if some health issue was at play in the sequence of unfortunate events.

[BlackCloud]

As I've previously stated, the NPS's Investigative Services Branch will issue a death report for all deaths in a national park.

[rmitchell]

It only just occurred to me that there is a web cam at Clingman's Dome. You can view archive footage on it from gsmnp website.Tuesday, September 25 looks socked in. You can just make out fir trees in the foreground but no more.

[John B]

As I've previously stated, the NPS's Investigative Services Branch will issue a death report for all deaths in a national park.

Seeing all of these people. I had no idea.

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1563/cold-cases.htm

[HooKooDooKu]

Seeing all of these people. I had no idea.

https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1563/cold-cases.htm

Wow... Teresa went missing almost right at 22 years ago while returning from Andrews Bald to the parking lot too (she was a part of a school outing).

The story about Dennis has been discussed before. The search for him in the 60's became a case study in how NOT to conduct a SAR.

I was familer with the story about Derek when he went missing. He was a co-worker of a high school friend of mine. If I recall correctly, there was a note found in his car that left suspicion that his disappearance might have been a suicide.

Don't know if I ever heard the story about Polly.

Given how rugged GSMNP can be, I'm surprised there are not more unsolved cases in GSMNP, especially since it is the most visited national park. Both Yosemite and Grand Canyon have more unsolved cases. I wonder if perhaps more people go hiking in those parks since statistics say something along the lines of 90% of GSMNP visitors never venture far from their car.

[TNhiker]

Autopsies are public record
So concerned parties can request it if they really really want to know

yeah.....

and i hope we get it....

and i would think since it was a high interest story, we would report her cause of death.........

[TNhiker]

I was familer with the story about Derek when he went missing. He was a co-worker of a high school friend of mine. If I recall correctly, there was a note found in his car that left suspicion that his disappearance might have been a suicide.

yeah...

he basically said don't come looking for me as i wont be found.....

and to this date----he has not been found.....

[rmitchell]

My first thoughts on Derek's disappearance was that may be he hit it big at the casino an someone bumped him off and left his car at Newfound Gap. I guess it could have gone the other way. That he lost a bundle and was suicidal.

Of all the disappearances Polly Melton's seems the most puzzling. How she could vanish so quickly from a group and no trace found.

[Gambit McCrae]

https://youtu.be/eVoIcNGtRTc

Sad but thought I would post

[tdoczi]

https://youtu.be/eVoIcNGtRTc

Sad but thought I would post

am i the only one who thinks its kind of .... odd? morbid? disturbing? that shes making these videos less than 2 months after the incident?

maybe its an age thing. i think the last thing i'd consider doing is spending hours talking to a camera about my mom's death and then letting everyone on the internet see it.

[TNhiker]

https://youtu.be/eVoIcNGtRTc

Sad but thought I would post

yeah....

we (my station) is trying to get her to do an on camera interview about her experience, etc etc etc.......

not sure if it will happen though...

(personally, i cannot watch the videos as i watch videos all day long at work and would rather have a cliff notes version of her experience)

[tdoczi]

yeah....

we (my station) is trying to get her to do an on camera interview about her experience, etc etc etc.......

not sure if it will happen though...

(personally, i cannot watch the videos as i watch videos all day long at work and would rather have a cliff notes version of her experience)

yeah, i'm kind of curious about some more of the details of this incident but i'm not sure i can remotely handle this girl talking to the camera for hours.

anyone want to watch them all and edit them?

[gpburdelljr]

am i the only one who thinks its kind of .... odd? morbid? disturbing? that shes making these videos less than 2 months after the incident?
maybe its an age thing. i think the last thing i'd consider doing is spending hours talking to a camera about my mom's death and then letting everyone on the internet see it.

Maybe it’s just her way of processing grief, by talking about it. Using a video, rather than talking to someone face to face, is just the way many peple of her generation communicate.

[tdoczi]

Maybe it’s just her way of processing grief, by talking about it. Using a video, rather than talking to someone face to face, is just the way many peple of her generation communicate.

quite possibly. doesnt make it a good thing.

[TNhiker]

Maybe it’s just her way of processing grief, by talking about it. Using a video, rather than talking to someone face to face, is just the way many peple of her generation communicate.

that's pretty much (not exact verbatim though) what she says in the first one.......

[gpburdelljr]

quite possibly. doesnt make it a good thing.

If it helps her, then it is a good thing. Nobody is forced to watch the video.

[HooKooDooKu]

Maybe it’s just her way of processing grief, by talking about it. Using a video, rather than talking to someone face to face, is just the way many peple of her generation communicate.

So I watched the video, and I think this description hits the nail on the head.
It's about 25 minutes long that tends to ramble on as she tries to narrate the events and her feelings of the day she learned her mother had died.
I don't think I personally would make and post a video like this on the internet. But I think she is brave to do so and I'll otherwise not judge her for doing so because I've not had to go thru an experience like she has gone thru.

She has made other videos about the situation and states that there are other details in those videos, but here's some of the basic details she reveals in this video:
The park service believes her mother steeped well off the trail for a bathroom break, and in the fog couldn't find her way back to the trail.
A trail of clothing was found leading towards her body leading the park service to believe she was suffering the effects of hypothermia.
They believe she died that first night, and her body was found in good condition (no signs of animal scavenging).