Great Smoky Mountains National Park search called off after missing person's body found
Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials have not yet released an identity or provided indications as to the cause of death of person who was reported missing and found dead April 16 near Low Gap Trail in the Cosby, Tennessee, area of the national park.
An April 19 news release said the identity and cause of death will be determined by the Cocke County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Park Service rangers began a search for the missing person on April 13, after checking the license plate of a vehicle that had been parked at the Cosby Campground Amphitheater for about a week, according to the news release. The vehicle was registered to a person reported missing from another state earlier in the month.
The search continued April 15 and 16 with the help of more than 100 personnel from multiple agencies and organizations from Tennessee and Western North Carolina.
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The Smokies, which sprawls across a half-million acres of rugged, forested terrain in Western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, is the most-visited national park, with some 12.9 million visitors in 2022.
Park spokespeople did not immediately respond to questions related to the most recent death in the park, but previous Citizen Times reporting showed there were 11 fatalities in the Smokies in 2022. The most common cause of death last year was suicide. There were three recorded.
The Smokies averages about 100 search and rescues each year.
The park's news release said that "foul play and environmental factors are not suspected" in the most recent death.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Great Smoky Mountains rangers find body of missing person
