Girl still missing after disappearing on 1976 high school trip in the Smokies

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — It has been nearly five decades since a 16-year-old girl disappeared while on a Bearden High School trip with around 40 students, and there are still no clear answers on what happened to her.

October 8, 1976 is the last time Teresa “Trenny” Lynn Gibson was seen alive. Her case is one of four missing persons cases from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that are listed on the National Park Service’s website. According to the NPS, she was last seen hiking with her group back from Andrew’s Bald Trail to the Kuwohi, formerly known as Clingmans Dome, parking area.

When she was last seen, Gibson was about 5’3″ tall, and weighed around 115 pounds with light brown hair. She was wearing a brown plaid jacket, a blue-and-white striped sweater, blue jeans, and blue Adidas shoes. Some reports also say that she may have been wearing a star sapphire and diamond ring.

National Park Service records from the search describe Gibson as a “good student, no problems,” and state that she was overall in good health but had very little outdoor knowledge.

The records, which include extensive documents from the search, state that Gibson was last seen by a few others in the group around 2:50 p.m. as they were about half-a-mile away from the parking area. One of the members of the group said they stopped to rest, but “Trenny went on, seemed to be in a hurry to get back.” Another person in the group told crews that they thought she “may have tried to go cross-country to [the] Dome parking area.”

The records say Gibson was first known to be missing at 3:30 p.m. when the group got back to the bus, and that several people looked for her, but did not see a trace of her. Some now specifically point out that one person saw tennis shoe tracks about the size of Gibson’s on the Appalachian Trail toward the Double Springs Shelter, but they lost the tracks about a half a mile past the intersection of the Appalachian Trail and the trail to Forney Creek and Andrew’s Bald Trail.

The records state that Gibson was reported missing within a few hours, and the bus took the students on the school trip back. Crews continued to search for Gibson into the night.

Following her disappearance, National Park Service records found online indicate that weeks of intensive searches were conducted. The first set of searches stretched from the day Gibson disappeared, October 8, 1996, and October 18, 1996. On top of the many individuals who helped look for Gibson, search dogs were also used.

Records state that the dogs picked up Gibson’s scent on Andrew’s Bald Trail and followed it toward Forney Creek Trail, but there were no visible signs of Gibson. One dog picked up Gibson’s scent at the Appalachian Trail near Clingmans Dome Tower and followed it for approximately a mile and a half, but lost the scent at the Clingmans Dome Road. The search dogs also located Gibson’s scent along the Appalachian Trail from the tower to Collins Gap.

The search for Gibson continued until October 18. While a specific number of people involved in the search was not listed, one notes details the need for 300 lunches to be delivered one day as the search continued. The records also note several reports that were investigated of girls who looked similar to Gibson being spotted in various places, even outside of the park.

One report involved an underage girl who had gone to Bryson City to get married, and another report given to Knoxville Police said someone looking similar to Gibson got on a plane in Newark, New Jersey with a “much older man” and the two got off the plane in Nassau.

More than a dozen area hospitals were also checked. One hospital in Haywood County, North Carolina reported on October 13 that they thought they may have treated Gibson on the previous Friday, which was October 8. Someone with the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office took a picture of Gibson to the hospital, but it was determined later that the patient thought to have possibly been Gibson was actually a “local girl.”

A second search started the following year on April 18, 1977, which continued through May 5, 1977. A handwritten note included on one page of the records states that a total of up to 50 searchers would be used during the search at peak times. A release from the park dated May 6, 1977 states that a large area around where Gibson disappeared, as well as trails and drainages were searched.

“With all the effort expended on this search, the fact still remains that there is a possibility she is still in the Park,” said Superintendent Boyd Evison. “That possibility will stay in our minds every time we go into the backcountry, I’m sure.”

Since then, the records state that multiple law enforcement agencies have contacted the National Park Service since 1991 in regards to unidentified remains cases that could potentially match Gibson’s description. Specifically, the records list at least six different occasions spanning from July 11, 1991 and January 8, 1994.

If Gibson were found alive today, she would be 64 years old. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created an age progressed photo of what she may have looked like around age 62.

Anyone with information on what may have happened to Gibson is asked to call the Investigative Branch of the National Park Service at (888)-653-0009 or contact local law enforcement.

Authorities say nearly 400 people go missing in Tennessee each year. That’s five people for every 100,000. Check this list of people missing from East Tennessee to see if you can help locate someone.

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