TN - Disappearances in the Smoky Mountains

Originally posted by: RainLily

Lost in the Smokies: Mystery surrounds disappearances over the past 40 years

It was a simple plan that Dennis Martin, his brother and two other boys hatched. While five adults watched and talked from a grassy area at Spence Field, the boys decided to see if they could sneak up on the old folks and maybe give them a start. Three of the boys went one direction. Dennis, six days short of his seventh birthday, went another.

A few minutes later the three, which included Dennis' older brother Douglas, jumped on the adults. Dennis was nowhere to be seen.
Knox News
More...

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/martin_dennis.html

Dennis Lloyd Martin


Above: Martin, circa 1969


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: June 14, 1969 from The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: June 20, 1962
Age: 6 years old
Height and Weight: 4'0, 55 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian male. Dark brown hair, brown eyes. Martin's hair is wavy and he has long, thick eyelashes. He was missing one of his upper front teeth at the time he disappeared.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A red t-shirt, dark green hiking shorts, white socks and black low-cut oxford shoes with a simple heel.
Medical Conditions: At the time of his disappearance, Martin's mental age was about half a year behind his chronological age.


Details of Disappearance

Martin was visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with his father, his grandfather, his older brother and two cousins on June 14, 1969. The family lived in Knoxville, Tennessee at the time. Martin was last seen between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. that day as he played a game of "Hide and Seek" in Spence Field in the park, near the Appalachian Trail. He disappeared behind a bush in the area and has never been seen again. An extensive search of the area did not locate any evidence as to his whereabouts.
Martin was a special education student at the time of his disappearance. His case remains unsolved.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation
615-744-4000



Source Information
NewspaperArchive
National Search and Rescue School
WBIR News
Smoky Mountain Disappearances: True Stories From The Great Smoky Mountains
By Juanitta Baldwin and Ester Grubb

Ooooo, I was just reading about a disappearence in the Smokies the other day and was considering starting a thread about her. Her case reminds of the woman (can't remember her name but we have a thread here for her) who went hiking with her husbands friend and he claims he turned around to look at the view and when he turned back around she had poof, vanished.

Thelma was hiking with friends when she started walking faster and passed them. They last saw her topping the crest of a hill and assumed she had just gone back to camp. She hadn't and she has never been seen again. Disappearences like this are just baffling. One minute she is there with friends and the next she is just gone. Sometimes I question if some portal to another universe didn't open and swallow them whole or something.


http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/melton_thelma.html

Trenny Gibson was on a school trip with her classmates when she vanished.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/g/gibson_trenny.html

http://www.forthelost.org/calikids/TGibson.doc

http://www.forthelost.org/calikids/DMartin.doc

Bumping this thread up to say that I read the book Unsolved Disappearances in the Smokey Mountains during the last couple days. I really enjoyed it, although I was a little disappointed as to how short it was. I suppose there wasn't much to tell since these poor people vanished into thin air.

The case that really hurt my heart the most was Trenny Gibson. The book had a section where Trenny's mother gave her insight. One chilling thing was that about a year before the disappearance, her mother had a terrible, terrible feeling that something very bad was going to happen to her family. She believes God was preparing her heart for what was about to happen. The poor woman also lost one of Trenny's brothers to natural causes.

Most of the crime experts her parents talked to seemed to believe that she was abducted off the trails by a sexual predator(s) and then killed.

From what I gathered in the book, and this is just my personal feeling only, is that Trenny was abducted, Polly (Pauline) Melton voluntarily disappeared, and little Dennis either was attacked by a wild animal or got lost in the wilderness and just was never found. (Maybe the mine idea that was discussed?)

Kristin83 said:

Bumping this thread up to say that I read the book Unsolved Disappearances in the Smokey Mountains during the last couple days. I really enjoyed it, although I was a little disappointed as to how short it was. I suppose there wasn't much to tell since these poor people vanished into thin air.

The case that really hurt my heart the most was Trenny Gibson. The book had a section where Trenny's mother gave her insight. One chilling thing was that about a year before the disappearance, her mother had a terrible, terrible feeling that something very bad was going to happen to her family. She believes God was preparing her heart for what was about to happen. The poor woman also lost one of Trenny's brothers to natural causes.

Most of the crime experts her parents talked to seemed to believe that she was abducted off the trails by a sexual predator(s) and then killed.

From what I gathered in the book, and this is just my personal feeling only, is that Trenny was abducted, Polly (Pauline) Melton voluntarily disappeared, and little Dennis either was attacked by a wild animal or got lost in the wilderness and just was never found. (Maybe the mine idea that was discussed?)

Click to expand...

I always believed Dennis Martin was either attacked by a cougar and dragged off, or he stumbled upon a large drug operation. I once read about a HUGE underground drug operation in TN with camoflauged doors leading to the surface.

Unsolved Disappearances in the Smokey Mountains was short, but VERY interesting.

I also have the book on the disappearances by Juanitta Baldwin. It is still available from Amazon and also from stores located in the Smoky Mountain National Park area. I am from that general area and that is one of the reason I find these some of the most interesting cases. My reading of the book led me to believe that Dennis Martin probably became lost or injured in some way and died in the forest, Thelma sounds like she may have deliberately disappeared, and Trenny sounds like she was abducted as several dogs on different days tracked her to a spot by the road as if she got in a car. Dennis may have gotten farther away from Spence Field than authorities estimated, as often children can cover more ground in a short amount of time than one would think. I do recommend the book if you are interested. Very sad situations for the families involved.

I read some time ago about a woman and child disappearing in the Smokies - anyone have any info about this - it was an old case

Old cases always considered open until answers found

Dennis Lloyd Martin, Trenny Lynn Gibson and Derek Joseph Lueking — the three names represent separate open cases that began when their loved ones called Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers to report them missing.

Rangers immediately began search-and-rescue missions — missions that would never turn up any sign.

Park spokeswoman Molly Schroer said any case is considered open until there is a determination of what happened.

More: www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/jun/23/old-cases-always-considered-open-until-answers/



Thread for Dennis - TN TN - Dennis Martin, 6, Great Smoky Mountains Nat. Park, 14 June 1969 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


Thread for Trenny - TN TN - Trenny Lynn Gibson, 16, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 8 Oct 1976 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


Thread for Derek - NC NC - Derek Lueking, 24, Cherokee, 17 March 2012 - hiked into Smoky Mtns - Page 2 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Smoky mountain disappearances


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Dennis Martin was abducted! People saw a large dark person sneaking among the trees, with something flung over its shoulder, right after they heard a child scream! The Green Berets and FBI as well as volunteers and state park rangers all searched for Dennis! The family that saw this possible abductor's last name was Key. Dennis father felt he was abducted!


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