TN TRENNY LYNN GIBSON: Missing from The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN - 8 Oct 1976 - Age 16

[Romulus]

Trenny Lynn Gibson

Missing Since: October 8, 1976 from The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Classification: Lost/Injured Missing
Date Of Birth: August 17, 1960
Age: 16 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 115 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, green eyes.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A blue blouse, a blue and white striped sweater, a borrowed brown plaid heavy jacket, blue jeans, blue Adidas shoes and a diamond and star sapphire ring.

Details of Disappearance

Gibson accompanied 40 of her classmates from Knoxville, Tennessee on a field trip to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park on October 8, 1976. The students were hiking to Andrews Bald on the trip and separated into small groups when they arrived at the trails. Gibson apparently hiked with several different sections of her classmates at different paces during the day. She was last seen at approximately 3:00 p.m. near Clingman's Dome, walking on a moderately steep trail with sharp dropoffs and dense undergrowth on both sides.

Extensive searches of the park continued until the end of October 1976, but Gibson has never been located. She was a sophomore at Bearden High School at the time of her disappearance. Her case remains unsolved.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Tennessee Bureau Of Investigation

615-744-4000

Trenny Lynn Gibson – The Charley Project

charleyproject.org

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) NamUs #MP4524

edited by staff to add media link

TRENNY LYNN GIBSON: Missing from The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN since 8 Oct 1976 - Age 16

Gibson accompanied 40 of her classmates from Knoxville, Tennessee on a field trip to The Great Smoky Mountains National Park on October 8, 1976. She was last seen at approximately 3:00 p.m. near Clingman's Dome, walking on a moderately steep...

www.crimewatchers.net

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[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Missing in the Smokies: Teresa ‘Trenny’ Gibson

Trenny Gibson disappeared in the Smokies on October 8, 1976.

www.wate.com

Missing in the Smokies: Teresa ‘Trenny’ Gibson​

October will mark 46 years since Teresa “Trenny” Gibson disappeared in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The 16-year-old sophomore was last seen hiking in the Smokies with a group from Bearden High School in Knoxville on October 8, 1976. about 40 students were on the hike, according to reports.

Gibson was last seen by fellow students as the group hiked back from Andrew’s Bald to the Clingmans Dome parking area.

Extensive searches of the park continued until the end of October 1976.

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.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

https://www.wate.com/news/lonely-bones/girl-still-missing-after-disappearing-on-1976-high-school-trip-in-the-smokies/

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

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.

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.