Juanitta Baldwin - Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains

Suntop Press
Division of Suntop, Inc. Kodak, Tennessee
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 6

Books by Juanitta Baldwin 151

Map of Great Smoky Mountains National
Park, with unsolved disappearance sites
marked on it. 152

This book began with a list of over one hundred names of persons who had met with some type of misfortune in the Great Smoky Mountains. The stories of seven of these persons are in this book.

We searched for surviving family members of each person we were writing about except William Bradford Bishop, Jr., and Eric Robert Rudolph. Our purpose was to let them know about this book so it would not be a surprise should they see it, and to give them an opportunity to tell us anything they wanted us to know. It took over two years, but we located at least one family member of each person.

We thank each person who has contacted us with information and comments since the initial publication of this book. Several persons shared information, but did not want to be identified by name. Their reasons ranged from a desire for privacy to caution about offending someone. All such requests have been circumspectly honored.

As we worked on this book, each name became a real person. We completed it with a keen hope that the unsolved disappearances will be solved during our lifetimes. It would be a joy to write the endings to these fascinating stories.

We do not consider this an irrational hope because a mystery is only a mystery to those who do not know what happened. Probabilities are high that there are people who know what happened to each person. One day one or more of them may break their silence.

Juanitta Baldwin is a psychologist and writer. Among her current works are Smoky Mountain Mysteries, Smoky Mountain Ghostlore, and Smoky Mountain Tales, Volumes I and II.

All her books are sold at http://www.amazon.com
* * * * *
Ester Grubb is a professional photographer, and certified physical education teacher.
* * * * *

This book is sold in all the Visitor Centers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and online at:
http://www.smokiesstore.org
Proceeds go to the preservation of the Park.

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States.
The number of persons who meet with any type of misfortune in the Great Smoky Mountains is a finite fraction of the total number of persons there at any hour of the day or night, in any season. We hope no one will shy away from the grandeur and beauty of the Smokies because of apprehension about safety.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers free information on how to visit the mountains safely.
The mailing address is 1420 Little River Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.
There is also an abundance of reliable, current information on the Internet, and from travel agents.

* * * * *

The places where the events in this book occurred are real. You can visit them. We have included information about the specific sites, some more detailed than others.

There is a map of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the last page of this book. We have marked the unsolved disappearance sites on it.

If you visit any of these sites, you will leave more amazed and mystified that the event occurred than mere words can ever convey.

* * * * *
Thelma Pauline (Polly) Melton
Trenny Lynn Gibson
Dennis Lloyd Martin
* * * * *

These persons vanished during daylight, from different locations, on different dates, and surrounded by other people.

Lots wife was on Sodom and Gomorrah Road. She looked back and became a pillar of salt. Her fate is explained in the Bible.

On September 25, 1981, Polly Melton was hiking Deep Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. She looked back and vanished. Her fate is yet to be explained.

Polly Melton, Trula Gudger, and Pauline (Red) Cannon were members of a group of about ten families who leased a campground beside Deep Creek in Swain County, North Carolina, and lived there in their travel trailers each summer.

The group did not admit any newcomers into their campground unless all the families voted unanimously to admit them. Most of them were retired, came in April or May, and stayed until October or November.

Weather permitting, Polly, Trula and Red hiked together each afternoon. When they met shortly after 3:00 PM on Friday, September 25, 1981, for a hike, the Airstream trailers sparkled under a bright sky. A few puffy clouds floated in a slight northeasterly breeze. The temperature was in the mid-80s. They decided to hike the Deep Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, as they often

This is a view on Deep Creek Trail where Thelma

Pauline (Polly) Melton was last seen on September 25, 1981.

This sign is at the entrance to Deep Creek Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
did. The trail is about four miles long, round trip. It begins near the private campground where they were camped, about a half-mile outside the Park. It ends about a mile and three-quarters into the Park. It is an excellent gravel roadbed which runs parallel to Deep Creek and is considered an easy trail.

Cars are permitted on Deep Creek Trail until the road splits about a quarter of a mile inside the Park. The right prong of the road provides access to a large picnic area and campground. The left prong is a continuation of Deep Creek Trail. About a hundred yards further, the trail narrows and there is a gate across it to keep out vehicular traffic. From this point on, tree and plant cover are very thick on each side of the trail.