Rangers find man missing for days in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, officials say
UPDATE: Rangers with the National Park Service located Timothy Cook in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Friday, May 17, after a day-long search. He was described as “safe,” but details of his condition were not released.
The original story is below.
A search has been launched for a man who vanished in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, according to the National Park Service.
Timothy Cook, 62, was last seen Sunday, May 12, near the Chimney Tops Overlook, park officials said in a news release.
His beige 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup was found at the same spot on May 14, officials say.
The overlook is a small parking area along the Newfound Gap Road, a winding two-lane highway that cuts through the park from Tennessee to North Carolina.
No trail heads are connected to the overlook and there are no amenities. The site is essentially a narrow parking area that borders a steep drop-off with rugged terrain below.
It’s not known if Cook “was hiking or just sightseeing” in the park, officials told the Asheville Citizen-Times. Low temperatures have ranged from the upper 40s to the low 60s during the period Cook has been missing, forecasters say.
Details of where he was visiting from were not released.
The overlook is about a mile east of a picnic area with restrooms on Newfound Gap Road, according to My Smoky Mountains Guide.
This story was originally published May 17, 2024 at 6:20 AM with the headline "Rangers find man missing for days in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, officials say."