Great Smoky Mountains search for missing man intensifies near Deep Creek

The search for a man missing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has intensified after more than a week, aided by the addition of more search crews from Western North Carolina, according to spokesperson Emily Davis.

On the eighth day since Gordon Kaye, 68, was last seen near a backcountry campsite in the Deep Creek area of the national park near Bryson City, Davis said even more search and rescue personnel have joined in the efforts.

Kaye, of Tampa, Florida, was last seen on April 23. His family reported him missing on April 26.

Kaye is a white male, with brown hair and blue eyes. He is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. He may be suffering from a mental health crisis, according to the news statement.

"He is an experienced hiker, camper, and hunter and had reserved a campsite at Deep Creek Campground for 14 days," according to an NPS news statement.

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On April 30 the National Park Service said the number of search and rescue crews had swelled to more than 120 people from 29 agencies and three states assisting the NPS in the search.

"Teams are out searching again today and are prepared to search the rest of the week," Davis said in an email on May 1 to the Citizen Times. "It is a ground search — the search area is covered in thick rhododendrons and the trees are leafed out, so ground searching is the most effective tool. Dog teams have been involved in the search."

She said nine more organizations and agencies had joined the search on May 1, including Skyland Fire Department, Buncombe County Rescue Squad and the Weaverville Fire Department.

Davis said that at least one tip from the public helped narrow down where Kaye was last seen - near a backcountry campsite. He was camping alone.

"We continue to ask that visitors or members of the public who might have seen Mr. Kaye, especially on Friday or Saturday, please call GSMNP Dispatch at 865-436-1230 or Swain County Dispatch at 828-488-2196," she said.

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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.

Davis said there are about 100 search and rescue operations a year in the park, one of the highest numbers across all national parks.

One of the biggest searches in the Smokies in the last several years involved the search for an Ohio mother, Mitzie Sue Clements, in the Clingmans Dome area of the park, in September 2018.

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Clements had been hiking with her 20-year-old daughter near the 6,643-foot summit and never returned to their car after the two had separated. A weeklong search ensued, involving 175 trained personnel from five states and some 50 organizations, helicopters, drones and K-9 units, covering 500 miles of dense, rugged forest.

In a horrific ending to the search, which lasted a week, crews found Clements’ body, unclothed, in a creek down the steep Huggins Creek Drainage in Swain County, 2 miles west of where she was last seen, and three-quarters of a mile south of the Appalachian Trail.

A massive search in the summer of 2019 had a happier ending. Kevin Lynch, a 58-year-old man from New Jersey, went missing from the Swag resort in Haywood County on the afternoon of July 27, 2019. Search and rescue workers from some 60 agencies and five states joined efforts to find Lynch, who suffered from “significant dementia,” according to Park Service reports at the time.

On the fifth day of the search, rescuers found Lynch "alert and responsive" in the southeast area of the park near the Cataloochee Divide Trail, only three-quarters of a mile from the point last seen.

Davis said SAR personnel are prepared to continue searching for the rest of the week for Kaye.

"Our search teams are dedicated to finding him," she said.

Karen Chávez is Executive Editor for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Tips? Call 828-712-6316, email, KChavez@CitizenTimes.com or follow on Twitter @KarenChavezACT.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Great Smoky Mountains National Park missing man search intensifies