Thelma Pauline 'Polly' Melton, a 58-year-old woman from Jacksonville, Florida, was a creature of habit, especially during the autumn months she and her husband, Bob, spent in their Airstream trailer at the Deep Creek Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. An avid hiker, she had a particular fondness for the Deep Creek Trail, a path she knew well. On the afternoon of September 25, 1981, Thelma embarked on a hike along this familiar trail with two friends.
Initially walking at a slower pace, she suddenly quickened her steps, moving ahead of her companions. Her friends watched as she went over a small hill and disappeared from their view. They assumed she was heading back to the campground and their trailer. However, when they arrived around 4:30 p.m., there was no sign of Thelma. Her husband, who had remained at the trailer, had not seen her either.
Concern grew as time passed, and by 6:00 p.m., Thelma was officially reported missing to a park ranger. An extensive search was launched immediately, involving over 150 people and nine search dogs. The trail was closed to the public to aid the search efforts. Investigators were initially hopeful, as one of Thelma's shoes had a distinctive crack across the sole, which they believed would make her tracks easy to follow. While they were able to follow her footprints for a distance, the tracks eventually became lost among the many others on the popular trail. The search dogs did pick up her scent on a fallen tree in the woods, but this lead was not considered significant at the time. After days of scouring the area with no further leads, the official search was called off on October 2nd.
The investigation into Thelma's disappearance uncovered some unusual details about her life and the days leading up to her vanishing. She was a dedicated volunteer at the Presbyterian Nutritional Center, yet she had uncharacteristically decided not to go in on the day she went missing. The day before her disappearance, she made several phone calls from the center, which was unusual as she had never used the phone there before. It was also discovered that she had been grieving the recent death of her mother and had experienced bouts of depression in the past. Her husband noticed his prescription for Valium was missing after she disappeared, though it is unknown if she took it with her. Thelma's minister suggested she may have been having an affair, a claim that was never substantiated. Thelma disappeared without any money, identification, or her necessary medications for high blood pressure and nausea. The case grew colder with time, leaving a void of answers for her family and friends. The sudden and perplexing disappearance of Thelma Pauline Melton from a familiar trail on a pleasant autumn afternoon remains an enduring mystery of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.Last Seen: Sep 25, 1981
