In 2008, Michael Edwin Hearon was 51 years old and owned a home construction business, Michael Hearon Builders. He worked with his two adult sons, Matt and Andy, who remember him as a lively and respected man.
“He was always really friendly to everyone. A lot of people spoke very highly of him,” Andy recalled.
Michael also had two different residences. He’d stay at his Maryville, Tennessee, property during the week; then, on the weekends, he’d go to his family’s 100-acre generational home located in Happy Valley, Tallahassee, which was adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park boundary.
The father of two grew up in Happy Valley, so he knew the region well, and as an adult, he spent his weekends tending to the farm.
Yet, on August 23, 2008, Michael mysteriously disappeared, and his case has remained unsolved for over 16 years.
That Saturday morning, he reached out to his son, Matt, to share his weekend plans.
“He said he was going to head up to the mountain for the weekend, nothing out of the ordinary. He left me a message, and I didn’t think anything about it,” Mike remembered.
Additionally, Michael told Andy that he intended to mow the property while in Happy Valley and even picked up a lawnmower from Andy’s house. However, that chore was never completed.
Later, at about 11:00 a.m., the 51-year-old was spotted pulling into his farm by some neighbors. Next, between 15 and 30 minutes passed by, and neighbors watched Michael as he left his property on his green Yamaha Wolverine ATV.
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He reportedly waved at his neighbors as he traveled down Bell Branch Road before vanishing.
After that, Matt and Andy didn’t hear from their father all weekend. This set off alarm bells on Monday, August 25, since they all worked together and typically checked in about projects in the morning.
“Usually, we’re talking to him in the morning, [finding] out what’s going for the day, or what we need to be doing because me and Andy both worked for dad,” Matt detailed.
The sons reached out to their grandmother, Alma, who lived next to Michael’s Happy Valley property, and she revealed how she hadn’t heard from Michael all weekend, either. This worried Matt and Andy, so they traveled to the farm to check on their father.
Upon arriving, Matt and Andy realized that their father’s truck was still in the driveway, and it hadn’t been pulled all the way in. Rather, it was parked at the end, as if Michael had driven in and hopped out of the vehicle.
The truck was left unlocked, too, with the windows down. Plus, Michael had left his keys and wallet on the dashboard, as well as his driver’s license, credit cards, and gun inside the truck.
“That was really odd, you know. If he planned to go camping or leave for a day, he would have had that or at least [hid] those things,” Andy noted.
This pushed Michael’s sons to inspect the interior of his house, but they found nothing out of the ordinary. The doors had been unlocked, which was typical of Michael, and his clothes and valuables were still inside.
The only thing that was missing was Michael’s ATV. At that point, Matt and Andy contacted the Blount County Sheriff’s Office at about 4:00 p.m.
Authorities quickly arrived at the property, but within less than an hour, heavy rain began to fall. The downpour lasted for several days, which might’ve hindered search efforts.
“We were called out to this house at night, and I remember it was raining. That was the challenging point to start with. Rain can wash things away,” detailed Sergeant Mike Seratt, a detective with Blount County Sheriff’s Office.
In spite of the tough conditions, the police returned the following day, August 26, and began conducting grid searches. It was thought that if they located the ATV, they’d also find Michael.
Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. By lunchtime on Tuesday, one of Michael’s family friends discovered the ATV, and it was in a strange position about one mile away from Michael’s farm.
The four-wheeler had been parked sideways on a steep hill, going down a road that Michael was never known to travel. Moreover, the keys had been left in the ignition, with the ATV in high gear and the kill switch turned to “off.”
“We grew up on four-wheelers and dirt bikes. When you turn something off that has an ignition switch and a key, you turn the key off, or they’ll drain the battery. You know, the lights and stuff,” Matt explained.
It’s still unclear why Michael would’ve been in that area, and despite further searches for the father of two, no other evidence of his whereabouts was found.
“It’s like a nightmare, but one that when you wake up, it is still happening for real. But we won’t give up,” Michael’s mother, Alma, told the press in 2009.
The mysterious circumstances of this case have given rise to various theories. Unlike the more fantastical, which involves supernatural or mythical beings, the most practical suggested that Michael might’ve taken his own life.
Although Michael’s loved ones insist that he was acting normal leading up to his disappearance and was not depressed. Searches of his financial and business records also showed no evidence of illegal activity.
According to Sergeant Seratt, investigators have continued following up on tips and leads. Nonetheless, most of them turn out to be dead ends.
Michael’s sons have reportedly gone to start families of their own, and they don’t think their father is still alive. Michael has since been declared legally dead.
Nonetheless, his family hopes they will one day receive answers and closure.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 14 years. It’s a lot. I’m just proud we’ve made it through,” Andy said in 2022.
Michael was five foot ten, weighed 185 pounds, and had brown hair and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing khaki cargo shorts, a faded red T-shirt, and Teva sandals. He would be 67 years old today.
Anyone with information regarding Michael’s case is urged to contact the Blount County Sheriff’s Office at (865) 273-5001.
