TN TN - Teresa 'Trenny' Lynn Gibson, 16, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 8 Oct 1976

[Rob774]

Bump for Trenny. Going to do a fictional book on the Smokey Mountains. While I was researching the disappearances, Trenny's case intrigued me.

I hope she ran off, perhaps something was going on at home. Somebody was waiting for her at the parking lot and she left. But she had her own car... own money. it just seems rather unlikely with all the personal items that either meant something to her, or were pricey.

I don't buy the fall. The dogs would have found her body. Sadly, I buy the abduction route, especially with the dogs tracking her scent to the parking lot.

I wish they gave us more regarding how that classmate got her jewelry. Wouldn't that be the biggest lead in the case? As a parent, I would have gotten these folks together and persuaded them to tell me how they got my missing child's personal items. The ONLY thing I can see that the police confirmed she ran away for her safety, and the classmate was given to them by Trenny.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Trenny’s birthday.

 

[Rush4087]

Seems to fit a Gary Hinton MO, I wonder where he was at the time?

Jmo

 

[Mrs. Marple]

I think that Robert Simpson was involved with Trenny's abduction and murder, but I don't know whether he acted alone.
His possession of her comb proves his guilt as far as I'm concerned.

Having her comb does not prove him guilty of anything, but I am sure it made him a person of interest. He had her comb. A girl had her ring. This puts both of them high on the persons of interest list, in my opinion. A person on a field trip with people all around disappears. There were students on that field trip that knew something or saw something, and they kept it to themselves. It's shameful.

 

[theshadow45]

Trenny has been missing for 46 years today.

 

[Starbuck80]

Is there any solid evidence that other people have this ring or had it at some point after her disappearance? A photo? Where is the ring today? Any reports, ideas?

Short answer, No. The student that had the ring passed away nearly 20 years ago now. The ring was not returned to the Gibson family, although the person in possession agreed to do so.

 

[Betty P]

Short answer, No. The student that had the ring passed away nearly 20 years ago now. The ring was not returned to the Gibson family, although the person in possession agreed to do so.

Was Trenny being bullied or picked on by some of the kids present that day. If so, was it for any particular reason, or just kids being mean?

 

[Starbuck80]

Was Trenny being bullied or picked on by some of the kids present that day. If so, was it for any particular reason, or just kids being mean?

Very good question. We just don’t know. The students that fell into step with Trenny as she hiked down the trail stated that she seemed in a good mood/good spirits. Apparently Kelvin Bowman was heckling her on a daily basis at school, but he was not part of the horticulture class so he didn’t attend the field trip.

 

[jetsfanjohn]

Very good question. We just don’t know. The students that fell into step with Trenny as she hiked down the trail stated that she seemed in a good mood/good spirits. Apparently Kelvin Bowman was heckling her on a daily basis at school, but he was not part of the horticulture class so he didn’t attend the field trip.

I always assumed Trenny was ahead of Robert Simpson on the trail at this stage (while still wearing his jacket). Would you know if this is correct ? Also, would you know if these students, that were the last people to see Trenny, were friends with either Robert Simpson or Kelvin Bowman ? I seem to recall that they were in a different class, so they probably weren't..

These case baffles me. I am just wondering if they would have had any reason to not be entirely truthful as to where they last saw Trenny. She seems to have gone missing very close to the Parking Lot.

 

[Starbuck80]

I’d appreciate if you would go to FB and like my page, Searching For Trenny

Searching For Trenny

Searching For Trenny is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Searching For Trenny and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

www.facebook.com

 

[barbel]

Hello @Starbuck80
Thank you for your excellent website. It brings incredible detail, and must have taken a huge effort to put it all together.

I apologize if this has been said before, but do you know what relationship the girl, who ended up with Trenny's jewelry, was with Trenny? Was the girl close to Robert Simpson?

Thank you!

 

[Hap]

@Starbuck80 - can you make your FB a page, instead of a "person"? Much easier to follow that way!

 

[voicefromtheholler]

That’s all well and good, but after working on this case for 17 years, I can tell you that yes, there was evidence of missing jewelry, a girl in the sophomore class had it, how much more evidence can you get? Guess you haven’t heard about possession being 9/10 of the law. How do you know there was never a police report/statement filed in regards to it? I’d be more than a bit careful about what you claim here. Trenny had the comb in the morning when she left. Robert Simpson ended up with it, on the dash of his car. If it was left accidentally, why didn’t he return it? Hope Gibson was supposed to go along on the field trip, so while she knew there was one and it was an all-day trip, they were still not aware of the destination. They didn’t let Trenny go under-prepared because she thought the trip would be cancelled. The students could have been headed to a museum and have been indoors for all that she knew. Hope only stayed behind because she didn’t have a sitter. You can quote what was stated in the newspaper all that you like, but I know and have interviewed the Gibson family many times and will take their word over a reporter’s any day.
Yes, this is an old case, and the Smokies are dense and unforgiving. But this case is far from a simple cut and dried runaway case, or a lost in the wilderness situation.

do you know if the family, many i understand are now deceased, but did any of them give dna later on down the line once dna became a thing. such as to the fbi or gedmatch, etc? in the event that remains are found. and i totally agree with you on the jewelry being found with the student and robert having her comb. did robert also take the jewelry, later give it to this other girl and threaten her to keep quiet? or were they working together? robert having the comb to me is almost like a souvenier. i do not think she was abducted nor fell to the weather, her remains would have been found.

 

[T rex]

I’d appreciate if you would go to FB and like my page, Searching For Trenny

Searching For Trenny

Searching For Trenny is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Searching For Trenny and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.

www.facebook.com

I see that this was your last post. So, have you abandoned this place for Facebook?

I can see why there are so many theories in this case. It has a little something for all of them.

 

[T rex]

So, have you abandoned this place for Facebook?

I'll take that as a yes. I don't do the social media, so good luck.

 

[Starbuck80]

I see that this was your last post. So, have you abandoned this place for Facebook?

I can see why there are so many theories in this case. It has a little something for all of them.

No, I haven’t abandoned anything. Just a lot of things in Trenny’s case demand my attention and this is just one of them.

 

[Starbuck80]

do you know if the family, many i understand are now deceased, but did any of them give dna later on down the line once dna became a thing. such as to the fbi or gedmatch, etc? in the event that remains are found. and i totally agree with you on the jewelry being found with the student and robert having her comb. did robert also take the jewelry, later give it to this other girl and threaten her to keep quiet? or were they working together? robert having the comb to me is almost like a souvenier. i do not think she was abducted nor fell to the weather, her remains would have been found.

Yes, DNA is available as well as Trenny’s dental records. My understanding is that a sophomore girl had the ring, likely given it by Simpson, although Simpson claimed that HE was given the ring by a DIFFERENT sophomore girl. That Trenny gave it to HER in the washroom to HOLD for her. If that makes any sense.

 

[Betty P]

Yes, DNA is available as well as Trenny’s dental records. My understanding is that a sophomore girl had the ring, likely given it by Simpson, although Simpson claimed that HE was given the ring by a DIFFERENT sophomore girl. That Trenny gave it to HER in the washroom to HOLD for her. If that makes any sense.

The story about the ring keeps changing. If Trenny gave the ring to someone to hold BEFORE the hike on the mountain, then there's no reason to suspect foul play.

Since no one has yet turned this ring (or any of Trenny's possesions from that day) over to LE, there's still reason to question whether the stories about them are accurate.

 

[T rex]

Out of all the cases I have looked at over the years I thought this was one of the easier ones. All signs to me point toward Trenny leaving the park of her own will that day. What happened to her next and who all was involved is the hard part.
Trenny and her friend were the last ones to start the uphill walk back to the parking area. Trenny knew she was in better shape and got a head start walking at a good pace and putting some distance between them. She then positioned herself between the other students at a suitable place to step of the trail. After watching all the others go by she headed up the trail but bypassed the parking lot and if this was a mistake she would have realized it when she came upon a huge observation tower that she knew she didn't pass on the way down. At this point she would have turned around and backtracked but she didn't, she headed up the AT all the way to a road where she apparently got in a vehicle.
To add to this it seems to have been the general consensus among her peers at the time that Trenny had runaway.
I think it's fairly obvious but that's just my opinion. If I was going to continue sleuthing this case I think I would focus on what happened to Trenny next.

 

[MissLaura]

Out of all the cases I have looked at over the years I thought this was one of the easier ones. All signs to me point toward Trenny leaving the park of her own will that day. What happened to her next and who all was involved is the hard part.
Trenny and her friend were the last ones to start the uphill walk back to the parking area. Trenny knew she was in better shape and got a head start walking at a good pace and putting some distance between them. She then positioned herself between the other students at a suitable place to step of the trail. After watching all the others go by she headed up the trail but bypassed the parking lot and if this was a mistake she would have realized it when she came upon a huge observation tower that she knew she didn't pass on the way down. At this point she would have turned around and backtracked but she didn't, she headed up the AT all the way to a road where she apparently got in a vehicle.
To add to this it seems to have been the general consensus among her peers at the time that Trenny had runaway.
I think it's fairly obvious but that's just my opinion. If I was going to continue sleuthing this case I think I would focus on what happened to Trenny next.

Why would she run away with nothing? She wasn't in good clothes for the hike/outdoors. She wasn't even sure there was going to be a field trip that day, according to her mother's account (and apparently no one knew where they were going). She had a good chunk of money left behind in her bank account from her job at the K&W cafeteria, and she left her jewelry behind. Running away in these circumstances doesn't fit for me. The usual consensus in the 70's when a teen went missing was that they ran away. So her peers saying that, without any additional details and anecdotes, does not sway me in that direction.