Search For Missing Hiker Near Clingmans Dome
Missing hiker search underway since Tuesday. Susan Clements of Cleves, Ohio has been missing since Tuesday evening. She and her daughter were hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They were hiking near Andrews Bald and the Clingmans Dome parking lot. The two women were separated while hiking. Park Rangers starred their search Tuesday night and the park’s Search and Rescue Team have joined in the search. Park official have asked for those with information please call the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch at (888) 653-0009.
Missing Hiker
Mitzie Sue “Susan” Clements is 53 years old and was last seen about 5 p.m. on Tuesday on the Forney Ridge Trail. Verizon Wireless has supplied a portable cell phone tower to the area to assist with search efforts. In the mountains cell service can be spotty and even nonexistent. This mobile tower will help provide communication to the teams in the search. Clingmans Dome tower and parking area have been closed in the Great Smoky Mountains while the search continues.
10/1/2018 Update: the search continues for Susan Clements. She is a white female with light brown hair and blue eyes, she is 5″6″ tall and weighs 125 pounds. She was wearing a green zip-up sweater, black workout pants over black leggings, a clear rain poncho, and white tennis shoes with purple shoe laces.
The park service reports they are using over 35 agencies and about 125 people to search for the missing hiker. Equipment being used in the search includes helicopters, multiple canine teams, and specialized search and rescue drones. The Clingmans Dome parking area is still closed to the public. The parking lot is being used as a field “incident command post” to manage the intensive search. Tents and self-contained mobile command buses have been set up there since last week. Clingmans Dome Road is being used as a landing zone for aircraft assisting in the search. Additional volunteer searchers are not being sought due to the rough terrain in part.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Parks Service Facebook Page put out this statement:
Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers are searching for a 53-year-old woman from Cleves, Ohio who was last seen in the Clingmans Dome area of the park on Tuesday, September 25. Mitzie Sue “Susan” Clements was hiking with her daughter on the Forney Ridge Trail near Andrews Bald when the two became separated.
Read more at: www.nps.gov/…/park-searching-for-missing-hiker-near-clingma… Anyone that saw Clements in the late afternoon of Tuesday, Sept 25, or since then, is asked to call 1-888-653-0009.Search For Missing Hiker Near Clingmans Dome
10/3/2018 Update: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park released information on finding the body of the missing hiker. Members of a search crew located the body of Susan Clements on Monday 10/2/18 after a week of searching. Investigators report her body was found “off-trail, in a rugged, heavily wooded area of the Huggins Creek drainage, approximately two miles from Clingmans Dome parking area and three-fourths mile south of the Appalachian Trail.” The cause of her death is under investigation but foul play is not suspected at this time.
Clingmans Dome Road remains closed for now until the equipment brought in to help manage and support the multiple agency search operation can be removed. Clingmans Dome Road road and Clingmans Dome parking area are expected to reopen Thursday morning.
