A cool September afternoon on a trail in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Three friends are chatting as they hike. And then… in minutes, one of them disappears. No sound. No clue. Just… gone. Polly Melton’s disappearance has left investigators and amateur sleuths searching for answers for over four decades

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Episode Sources

National Park Service: Cold Cases, Thelma Pauline "Polly" Melton
NamUs: #MP14284, Thelma Pauline Melton
Asheville Citizen-Times: Dogs Are Unable to Find Lost Hiker, September 28, 1981
The Knoxville Sentinel News: Search for Hiker Eases: Rangers feel woman no longer in park, October 1, 1981
Winston Salem Journal: Search for hiker continues, October 1, 1981
The Charlotte Observer: Female Hiker, 58, still missing in Smokie, October 1, 1981
Asheville Citizen-Times: Organized Search ends for missing woman, October 6, 1981
The Charlotte Observer: Terror is when a loved one vanishes in the mountains, November 20, 1981
Asheville Times: Disappearance Still A Mystery, December 24, 1981
The Charlotte Observer: Mystery not solved but ending, July 3, 1991
Find A Grave: Pauline “Polly” McAllister Melton
10 News: Appalachian Unsolved: Polly Melton Missing in the Smokies, December 8, 2017
Investigating Agency: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation 615-744-4000

Episode Music

Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.