Number of missing people dying in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

View from a hiking trail in the Smokies. (Photo: WATE)

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — While there appears to be a search for missing persons in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, here’s what we know about how many searches and fatalities happen in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Within the last week, officials said two people may have gone missing in separate cases in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One of the missing men wanted by the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office has been found safe. Park rangers’ search for a missing Florida man has continued over a week since he was last seen.

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A recent review of National Park Service data placed the Smokies among the The five deadliest national parks in 2022.

Following the reports of the two missing men, WATE contacted GSMNP for more information on how many missing person searches and fatalities are taking place in the park. According to a spokesman for GSMNP, In 2022, 11 people died in the park. At the end of April 2023 there had been only one death in GSMNP.

On April 19, the body of a missing person was recovered near the Low Gap Trail in Cosby, according to the National Park Service. While the missing person’s name was not released, NPS announced that the Cocke County Medical Examiner’s Office would determine the person’s identity and cause of death.

The search for the missing person began April 13 after a vehicle registered to him was parked at Cosby Campground Amphitheater for over a week. A spokesman for GSMNP said at the time the vehicle was registered in another state and the person in it was reported missing there.

Crews battle through rough Smokies terrain in search of missing Florida man

GSMNP also said the park conducts an average of about 100 search and rescue operations each year. Some of these already this year include searching for missing people and rescuing injured hikers.

Authorities say nearly 400 people go missing in Tennessee every year. That’s five people per 100,000. Check this list of missing people in East Tennessee to see if you can help locate someone.

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