Episode 162: Vanished in the Smokies - The Mysterious Disappearance of Polly Melton

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.