She Vanished While On A Class Field Trip In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Trenny Lynn Gibson, a sophomore at Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, was just 16 years old when she went on a field trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and vanished without a trace.
It was October 8, 1976, when she and 40 of her classmates boarded a school bus to travel to the park, located more than 50 miles away from their school.
The trip was led by Wayne Dunlap, a horticultural teacher, and the plan was to hike the Forney Ridge Trail to Andrew’s Bald.
The school bus parked at the Kuwohi parking area, formerly known as Clingmans Dome, and the students were broken up into groups. Trenny hiked alongside a male student named Robert Simpson, who happened to be her brother’s friend.
It was about 1:30 p.m. by the time they reached Andrew’s Bald. At that point, Trenny and Robert ate lunch, and she borrowed his jacket. However, the pair became separated after Robert began tracking a bear, so he didn’t travel back with Trenny.
Instead, she hiked with a different group of students, and when they were only around half a mile away from the parking lot, she disappeared at approximately 2:50 p.m.
One of Trenny’s group members took a rest, but she continued walking and reportedly “seemed to be in a hurry to get back.” According to a group member, she “may have tried to go cross-country to [the] Dome parking area.”
The group eventually saw Trenny bend down and make a right turn off the trail. Then, they turned to look at another student approaching them, and when they looked back in Trenny’s direction, she was nowhere to be seen.
After her classmates arrived at their school bus at 3:30 p.m., it became clear that Trenny wasn’t there. Multiple people searched for her, to no avail.
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One person reportedly spotted tennis shoe tracks on the Appalachian Trail, heading in the direction of Double Springs Shelter, but the tracks were ultimately lost.
Trenny was reported missing, and while the rest of her classmates were brought back to school, search crews began to scour the region. Searches ensued for weeks, with the first round lasting from October 8, 1976, to October 18, 1976.
There were some items recovered, including three cigarette butts and a can of beer, near where Trenny had turned off the Forney Ridge Trail. Additionally, her scent was picked up by multiple search dogs.
Canines detected Trenny’s scent on Andrew’s Bald Trail and tracked it toward Forney Creek, but no sign of the teen was uncovered; meanwhile, a dog also picked up her scent at the Appalachian Trail, close to Clingmans Dome Tower and tracked it for about a mile and a half. That time, her scent was lost at Clingmans Dome Road.
Near the road, there were reportedly eight cigarette butts that matched the brand found in the woods. It’s possible that Trenny became lost, given the afternoon’s foggy weather, but her scent trail led people to theorize that she was abducted.
More specifically, some think she might’ve been taken, held at Clingmans Dome Tower, and led to the road after her classmates were no longer in the area.
Another theory involves Trenny’s classmate, Kelvin Bowman, who’d tried to break into her family’s residence months earlier. At the time of the attempted break-in, Trenny’s mother shot Kelvin in the foot, and he was forced to serve time in a correctional facility.
Kelvin served six months, and after he got out, he continued attending Bearden High School. But, before that, he allegedly threatened to kill Trenny once he was released from the facility.
Some students claimed to have spotted Kelvin’s car following their school bus as they traveled to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. However, the horticultural teacher, Wayne Dunlap, disputed this claim, and according to the school principal, Kelvin had attended his classes that day.
In the wake of Trenny’s disappearance, numerous people assisted in searches, and the police investigated potential sightings of the teen. Moreover, they checked over a dozen local hospitals, and the next year, a second round of searches ensued, lasting from April 18, 1977, to May 5, 1977.
“With all the effort expended on this search, the fact still remains that there is a possibility she is still in the park. That possibility will stay in our minds every time we go into the backcountry, I’m sure,” stated Superintendent Boyd Evison.
Trenny was known as a “good student” with “no problems,” but while she was in good health, she didn’t know much about the great outdoors. Her case has gone unsolved for over 48 years.
Trenny was five foot three, weighed 115 pounds, and had brown hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a blue blouse, a blue and white striped sweater, blue Adidas shoes, and the brown plaid jacket she’d borrowed.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children created an age-progressed image showing what Trenny might’ve looked like at 62 years old. She would be 64 years old today.
Anyone with information regarding Trenny’s case is urged to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at (615) 744-4000.
You can read the incident report from the National Park Service here.
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