Mysterious disappearance of two hikers deep in the Smoky Mountains brings fears of forest monsters, wild men – and a sudden military cover up. Riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines story by Derek Rush.

Called Shaconage by the Cherokee, or “Land of Blue Smoke,” the Great Smoky Mountains span the southern Appalachians along the border between Tennessee and North Carolina. Formed between 200 and 300 million years ago, they are among the oldest mountains in the world. With ridge after ridge of seemingly endless old-growth forest, rushing streams, stunning waterfalls, and an intricate webbing of trails, it’s no wonder the Smokies have become a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. Each year more than 10 million visitors, seeking to escape the stresses of their hectic modern lives, venture into these ancient mountains to enjoy the scenic beauty and connect with the natural world.

Yet despite the region’s popularity, it has acquired a rather sinister reputation for a number or mysterious disappearances and deaths.

Perhaps the most baffling of these incidents occurred on September 6th, 2014, when 20-year-old Corey Elkins, and Ellie Sutton, 19, went missing while on a backpacking excursion within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Both students were avid hikers looking forward to one last adventure before fall semester began the following week. The couple had left early on Friday morning with plans of spending the weekend camping and exploring the grassy balds and dense, steep hollers. By all accounts, this was just another one of their typical backcountry excursions.

No one could have anticipated the tragic turn of events that lay ahead.

Disappearance of Ellie Sutton

“They were all about the adventure,” said friend, Graham Courtney. “Ellie, especially. If there wasn’t an element of risk involved, you could be sure she’d find some way to make things interesting.”

The two had been lifelong friends, growing up in nearby Gatlinburg. Ellie was gregarious, a curious spirit driven by a desire to explore the unknown, to discover what new mysteries might be lurking around the next bend. Cory was more reserved, a quiet kid that grew up with a rod and reel in hand, passing many a day away along the bank of a quiet stream or pond. Yet despite their differences, the two shared a common passion for the outdoors.

In recent months the couple had become captivated by the idea of searching for hidden caves and lost mines. Having already discovered an old, abandoned moonshine still, and later the wreckage of a plane that went missing in the 1940s, Ellie was convinced there were many more Smoky Mountain mysteries that needed solving.

Sadly, in their quest for answers, Cory Elkins and Ellie Sutton would soon become one of the enduring unsolved mysteries they sought.

Early that Saturday morning, the Sevier County 911 dispatch center received an urgent call for help. What follows is a written transcript of that call.

SEVIER COUNTY CENTRAL DISPATCH E911

Transcript of call for service 09/06/14 – 8:53 am

Dispatcher: 911. This call is being recorded. What’s your emergency? Caller: Oh, thank God! I didn’t think I was going to get through. Dispatcher: What’s your emergency, sir?

Caller: I need help. My girlfriend’s been attacked.

Dispatcher: What is your location?

ICR# 10621409 Item # 1 – 911 Call

Caller: I’m not sure. We’d followed the Porters Creek manway yesterday before getting into some off- trail exploring. We camped overnight in a small clearing. It wasn’t on the map so I kinda doubt if it was a designated camp site or anything. This is a total clusterfuck! I don’t know how you guys are gonna…

Dispatcher: Okay, and you said your girlfriend was attacked, is that correct?

Caller: I think it was a bear. I was inside our tent getting my gear in order when I heard her scream. I only caught a glimpse of it. It took her! It took her into the woods!

Dispatcher: And you’re certain it was a bear?

Caller: [inaudible] don’t know, pretty sure. It pulled her off into the woods. I couldn’t get to her. I tried but I just couldn’t get to her in time. Please, I need help!

Dispatcher: We have people responding, okay? Just try to remain calm. Can I get your name?

Caller: My name’s Cory. Cory Elkins. My girlfriend is Ellie Sutton.

Dispatcher: Okay, Cory, we have people on the way. But I need to get a better idea of your exact location. Are you able to locate a trail marker? Any distinctive landmarks, bodies of water, a river, anything that can help us?

Caller: No ma’am. Just trees and real thick bush. We weren’t far from the AT, but once I started running I kinda lost my bearings. I crossed a creek a ways back, though. Maybe one of the Laurel branches, I don’t know. I’m thinking I could be farther east than that. I haven’t been up this way before – not this far. This was Ellie’s project; she knew the area better than me. Please hurry! I can still hear them ahead of me, but she’s stopped screaming.

Dispatcher: Are you chasing after the animal?

Caller: Of course I am! I had [inaudible] after her [inaudible] but can’t keep up. [background noise, the sound of footfalls and movement through brush] I couldn’t [inaudible] a signal on my phone until now. [inaudible] losing my mind. It feels like I’m going in circles here.

Dispatcher: Alright, Cory, for your safety, I’d like for you to try and backtrack to that clearing you told me about. It will be easier for rescuers to locate you there.

[Sounds of distant screams are heard]

Dispatcher: Cory? What happening?

Caller: Ellie! Ellie, is that you?

Dispatcher: Tell me what’s happening.

Caller: [inaudible] growling at me. I can hear it just up ahead, but the undergrowth is too thick to keep pace.

Dispatcher: Cory, I strongly advise that you not approach the animal. You won’t be doing your friend any good if—

Caller: [inaudible] my gun in the tent. I didn’t think to … [inaudible] was stupid. I panicked. I just went after her.

Dispatcher: That’s okay. Is there anything around you that can be used to defend yourself? A broken tree limb, maybe a rock?

Caller: I … uh, yeah, I’m sure there’s something I can … wait …

Dispatcher: Tell me what’s happening, Cory.

Caller: Whistling.

Dispatcher: Whistling?

Caller: It sounds like someone whistling. I don’t think it … I don’t think it’s Ellie though. I …

At this point, the 911 dispatcher recalls hearing the sounds Cory Elkins is describing over the open line, sounding to her very much like the “hoot” of an owl, although in a higher pitch. As if in response, an agitated whooping call repeats several times, followed by an abrupt crashing sound of something large moving through thick brush. Fear is evident in Cory’s voice as he begins shouting as if to ward off an aggressive animal.

Caller: I don’t know what’s happening here. I think … I’m thinking there’s more than one. There are sounds coming from in front of me but also to my left. I can hear [inaudible] … or crying, and …

Dispatcher: Keep talking to me, Cory. What are you hearing?

Caller: [heavy, nervous breathing]

Dispatcher: Take it easy, Cory. Try and remain calm. If the animal does approach, do not run or make any sudden or aggressive movements, okay?

Caller: Oh, no way! No fucking way, man! This ain’t happening! No way this is happening right now!

Dispatcher: Cory? Hello? Hello?

Caller: Ma’am, please hurry! [strange sound, like a rattling raven] Oh god, please hurry!

Once again, Cory starts shouting. The dispatcher asks him if it’s the bear, and Cory responds only by saying, “It’s not a bear.” Seconds later the phone sounds to be dropped, and the commotion of a frantic struggle ensues.

For a long, terrible moment, the 911 dispatcher could do little but listen in on the sounds of a young man engaged in a brutal fight for his life. Muffled human huffs and grunts and growls of exertion merge with the screaming roar of the attacking animal. And unidentified female voice (most likely Ellie Sutton) can be heard in the background screaming. “Cory, run! Just run! Don’t fight with it, just run!!!” There are sounds of thrashing and breaking vegetation, the hollow thuds of repeated blows, and the tearing of fabric. Cory’s wet, guttural screams and wails weaken and become less recognizably human. Then, as quickly as it began, it is over.

The silence of the open line is unsettling.

Several moments go by before something retrieves the phone from the ground. There are sounds of inquisitive sniffing, then what could be teeth gnawing at the device before once again being dropped. Shuffling sounds and furtive footsteps give way to an odd chatter of subtle chirps. Another raven-like rattle seems to respond. Something heavy is dragged along the ground, and the soft patter of footsteps appear to follow.

Search for Cory and Ellie Begins

Wildlife experts have weighed in on the audio of the 911 call. Most tend to agree that the majority of vocalizations heard are likely that of a mountain lion. A mountain lion will often communicate with bird-like chirps and whistles. When angered, they sound like an overgrown house cat, raspy shrieks and hissing. Unlike their larger African cousins, they cannot produce a deep roar. The roaring heard in the audio suggests the presence of a different animal, quite possibly a bear.

So, is it possible that Cory was giving chase to a bear, after all, that in turn happened upon a mountain lion? While there is reason to doubt that a sustainable population of mountain lions still roam the Smokies, there is mounting evidence that they at least pass through the park on occasion. Both animals can be very dangerous and unpredictable, and it is not unreasonable to think that the two would occasionally contest one another over prey. Although Cory clearly stated that “It’s not a bear,” then was the attacking animal in fact a mountain lion that was then challenge by a bear?

The only way to find out was get out there and begin the search.

Park Rangers and officers with the state’s Wildlife Resources Agency were the first to arrive. They assembled at the Porters Creek trailhead where Cory’s pickup truck was parked. Together, along with a handful of local volunteers and a K9 unit from the Sevier County Sheriff’s Department, they set out into the Greenbrier toward some of the Smoky Mountains’ most unusual and challenging terrain. By late afternoon, several rescue teams on foot, horseback, and ATV were actively engaged in the search, combing the trails, slopes, and ridges well into the night for the two missing hikers.

The campsite was located early on Sunday morning by a Sevier County rescue squad that was following up on a hiker’s report of having seen a pair of unusual animals he thought to be bear cubs playing with a backpack. Within the small clearing the team discovered a collapsed tent and a pair of packs, the contents of each strewn about the ground, including video equipment, and a parabolic microphone used to amplify and record distance sounds. Dog teams were able to pick up on a scent leading away from the clearing and into the woods but failed to turn up any new signs of the couple’s whereabouts. By nightfall, more than 150 trained personnel and volunteers from multiple organizations were involved in the effort, including aircraft, and a helicopter using a FLIR thermal imaging camera to help detect body heat.

It wasn’t until late Monday afternoon that a search party came across the location where Cory Elkins was believed to have been attacked, almost two miles from the clearing. The lone hiking boot was found at the narrow end of a long draw, an area thickly wooded and strewn with boulders. There were signs of a struggle upon the ground, including droplets and smears of dried blood on the rocks.

False hopes and confusion arose at the scene when searchers began hearing strange “knocking sounds.” With darkness fast approaching and fearing that sheriff’s deputies would be unable to reach the area in time, a few members of the team went off to investigate on their own, scrambling though heavy brush and the maze of boulders. “We never did locate the source of the sound,” said Jeff Carne of the Sevier County Rescue Squad. “Just when we thought we were closing in, we’d hear it again someplace else. It always seemed to be keeping just out of reach. Best way I can describe it would be someone clacking two rocks together. I don’t see how it could have been an animal. I’m thinking someone else was out there screwing around.” A search from the air actually acquired a “credible” hit with the FLIR but was unable to track the target very long through the dense foliage. Eventually, a K9 team arrived, but once there the dog refused to track. One witness recalled the dog trembling on its haunches and whining, clearly “spooked.”

This is particularly strange. What would cause a police K9, a well-trained and typically fearless animal, to slink away from a trail whimpering in such a way? Losing a trail would be one thing, but refusing to follow a scent out of fear is quite another. It has been said that dogs, and animals in general, have a much more heightened awareness of their surroundings, so it isn’t unreasonable to assume the dog was simply reacting to a sense of danger posed by a larger animal. A bear perhaps?

It is worth mentioning that black bears are known to sometimes clack their teeth when agitated, also called jaw popping, which could account for the peculiar knocking sounds described by the search team. If a bear was nearby that evening, it would have certainly upset the dog.

A Mystery Figure Appears

In the following days the number of people out combing the wilderness swells to nearly 300, including TVA foresters, and members of the National Guard. Even with the increase in manpower helping to expand the search parameters, this was clearly no walk in the park. The landscape and dense vegetation of the Smokies can make searches extremely complicated. Because the park is rippled with drainages eroded by creeks, boulder fields, and steep cliffs cut with crevices, the safety of searchers was a priority from the get-go. “This is a very expansive, rugged area we’re dealing with here,” said park spokeswoman Laura Delaney during a press conference. “There aren’t many trails up that way. And due to the nature of the terrain, we’re having to increasingly rely upon specialized teams that can get down into areas too hazardous to negotiate without certain technical equipment.”

Frustration was mounting. The absence of clues left many confounded. There was some speculation that this was all a ruse, that Cory had done something to Ellie and then placed the call to 911 to divert attention away from himself. But family and friends were adamant that this was not the case. “The idea that Cory could have harmed Ellie is absurd,” said a close friend speaking on behalf of the Suttons. “Both families go back years. The kids practically grew up together. There’s no way.” Meanwhile, authorities had begun watching for buzzards, and testing bear and boar scat for human remains. While no one was ready to give up hope, it was becoming apparent that the rescue operation would soon transition to a recovery effort.

Early on Thursday morning a distress call came into the operations center. Apparently, a group of volunteers had strayed outside the search parameters and were having trouble finding their way back. Lonnie Kobritz, a local backcountry guide, was leading his five-man mountain rescue squad through the bush to meet up with the lost group, when suddenly one of his men called out. Kobritz turned to find the man gesturing nervously toward a shadowy grove of pine and thickets. In a later interview for the Knoxville News Sentinel, Kobritz would reveal the details of this unusual encounter: “He was just standing there watching us, leaning out from behind the tree. Big fella. Powerfully built. One of my guys mistook him for a bear at first because we’re thinking he had on some sort of animal fur. I mean it was a warm day, and here you have this crackpot in a fur coat. To be honest, it was tough to see much detail because of the play of morning glare and shadow, but it was definitely an unusual situation.” When asked if he thought the man could have been Cory Elkins, Kobritz said, “No, not a chance. According to our profile, Elkins was 5’9 with a thin build. From what I could tell, this guy was much larger. I’m 6’2 and he looked bigger than me even.”

Stories of “wild men” in these eastern mountains go back generations. Reclusive loners who have shunned society and its obligations for a more primitive, almost feral existence, living off foraging and, at times, theft from campsites or burglarizing cabins. These are people that have no regard for civilization, an aversion for the law, and perhaps even a propensity toward violence if provoked.

In 1969 a park ranger was attacked while out on patrol, suffering lacerations and a head injury when a naked man covered in mud and leaves charged at him out of the bushes with a makeshift club. The man was later arrested and identified as a person of interest in a decades old murder who had vanished without a trace.

“Sure, I’ve heard the stories of wild people in the woods,” Kobritz went on to add. “Not just individuals but entire family groups that have been out there for ages. I don’t think people realize how isolated some of these areas of the Appalachians are. The police have known for years of criminals that have run off into the mountains to avoid prison but finding them is all but impossible. It’s a very different world out there. I’ve been guiding for the better part of thirty years and I’ve seen some mighty strange things. It’s very easy to disappear. If you don’t want to be found, you’re not going to be found.”

The dark figure lurking within the woods had the team on edge. Repeated demands to come out and stop hiding went unanswered. “I had my gun out now,” Kobritz said, “but he just stood there slowly swaying side to side like he was trying to size us up, making a noise like an engine at low idle, sort of a drawn out, moaning growl. It was a tense situation. One of my guys, he says, ‘I can’t handle this,’ and takes off running. As we’re watching after him, the guy behind the tree bolts, crashing through the undergrowth like a runaway truck. That’s when the sudden ruckus of ravens taking to flight startled us, and I turn to find Parker stumbling back away from a fallen pine he’d gone to jump over in his great escape.”

What Kobritz saw when he ventured over to the spot knocked the wind out of him.

What Happened to Ellie Sutton?

Her head was cocked at an odd angle, pale blue eyes in an ashen face staring sleepily up at him. Her mouth hung partly open, caught on a final breath, as though she had every intention of speaking, perhaps revealing for the living the secrets of her demise. Tucked in a shallow depression beneath the trunk of the fallen pine, Ellie Sutton was partly clothed and hastily covered by dead leaves and sticks. The official medical examiner’s report determined the cause of death was due to severe hemorrhaging of the right atrium of the heart, lethal damage likely caused by a significant impact to the chest, fracturing several ribs.

“This was no animal attack, no bear mauling,” said Boyd Arnouville, a wildlife management instructor at Tennessee Tech. “A bear attacks with its claws and teeth, inflicting gouge and puncture wounds. They will bring their prey down with their weight and bite at the same time. They will continue to bite and maul until their prey is dead. It isn’t quick and it isn’t pretty. Ellie had mostly superficial external injuries, small cuts, scrapes and other abrasions. It was the severity of her internal injuries that lead to her death, injuries that, in my opinion, were the result of having fallen from some height.”

Theories abound on what happened to Ellie Sutton. The general consensus is that she managed to escape in the midst of the confusion as Cory fought with his attacker. Injuries to the soles of her feet suggest that she ran barefoot, likely as far and as fast as she could. We know that she was an avid runner and exercised almost daily, so she’d have had the conditioning and endurance to travel quite a ways without rest. We also know that she had a vast, intimate knowledge of the area and would have likely known where to go for help. If we are to follow the most logical path she’d have taken away from the draw, along a ridge of brambles, scrambling down a slide of loose shale, then following a stream for a time before reentering the woods, it would appear that she was trying to make her way toward one of the park’s backcountry shelters – the closest of which was less than half a mile from where she was found. But even that short distance would have been a challenge if she’d have been hurt. Aside from the injuries to the soles of her feet, cuts and abrasions evident on her hands and knees would suggest she fell multiple times along the way, so it is not unreasonable to think that she had lost her footing at some point and stumbled down a steep drainage. Considering the severity of the internal damage, it is unlikely she would have gotten very far after such an accident if, in fact, she’d have even been able to recover at all. She would have been in excruciating pain, and any movement would have only exacerbated her injuries.

While we may never know what horrors Ellie Sutton experienced, we do know that her time of death was determined to have been sometime in the very early hours of Wednesday morning – almost four days after the 911 call came in. What is so perplexing about this is that trackers had started on her trail early in the day on Monday. They knew that someone had fled the draw recently, as signs of their passage through the forest were still clear enough to follow. According to the SAR report, an intensive grid search of an “area of interest” was carried out with no results. Even though she was likely still alive and close by, they failed to turn up anything at all. Not one single worthwhile clue.

There is something very strange about this. How is it possible for an injured girl to be overlooked during a well-organized methodical sweep of the land, a search that involved more than 40 trained personnel, including dogs and human trackers? It is baffling to say the least. Even if she was tucked away beneath the fallen pine, unconscious and unable to respond to searchers’ calls, it is difficult to imagine a line of people marching side-by-side having stepped right over her.

“There’s more to tracking than following footprints,” explains Dylan Hoskin, an expert mantracker with the Regional Emergency Services Unit, adding that, “You have to be able to recognize and interpret the signs in order to reach correct conclusions about what’s going on. Not only must you know your environment, understand how a track ages, but you also have to get into the mind of your target and anticipate their next move. Weather was cooperating and the signs were all there. Days old but still recognizable. Not just one, but two targets – one light and one heavy. We were able to determine the pursuer was working along a parallel course, and exhibiting a higher degree of stealth, leaving less physical trace. From the stream bed we proceeded approximately 800 yards into the bush, right up to the point where the two trails converged, then … nothing. It was almost as if both had vanished into thin air. Our only recourse at that point was to initiate a grid search of the area, yet we found nothing.”

So now we know that Ellie was in fact being followed. But by who? Or what? This brings us once again to the mystery man encountered by Lonnie Kobritz and his team.

“They blew us off,” said Kobriz. “I was explaining to the deputies about this guy we’d seen, trying to make sense of the situation, and then Parker starts in with this crap that it wasn’t man, that it was some sort of animal that got his hair standing on end. So naturally we get the ol’ roll of the eyes and are told they don’t have the time to be running around the woods chasing monsters. And that was pretty much the end of it. Looking back now, if that search team haven’t gotten lost, we wouldn’t have had any reason to be back there, and we might never have found that poor girl.”

This response from law enforcement is baffling. As armed sheriff’s deputies and park rangers secured the scene, all non-essential personnel were immediately ushered out of the area as investigators probed for evidence and tended to the body. By most accounts, little effort was made to look into the claims of Kobritz and his team. In fact, authorities later acknowledged they thought the story was rather far- fetched but stopped short of calling it an outright hoax. A credible source within the sheriff’s department, however, alleges that a routine search of the surroundings was conducted, but quickly called off by the overseeing agency.

A Sudden Cover-Up

In a rather curious twist, authorities were quick to implement an emergency closure of the area without explanation. This closure would encompass a large swath of the park beyond where Ellie’s body was discovered, making a number of popular trails and service roads suddenly inaccessible to the public, and also civilian volunteers engaged in the ongoing search for Cory Elkins. The only rationale for taking such a drastic action would be if there was some sort of imminent danger posed, an environmental hazard or an aggressive animal. But officials weren’t talking. Their lack of disclosure had people on edge, and many were questioning whether it was safe to be in the park at all.

At 5:00pm the following day, after nearly a week of combing the mountains, the official search and rescue operation for Cory Elkins was abruptly suspended. The announcement came just hours after the Elkins family held a tearful press conference expressing faith that their son would soon be found. That evening, officials released a statement which read in part: The search was both extensive and comprehensive in its execution. Unfortunately, our efforts have not led to the results we were all hoping for. We are particularly appreciative of the cooperation provided by Sevier and Blount County Sheriff’s Departments, the TWRA, and Highway Patrol. Additionally, we would like to commend the heroic search and rescue volunteers who have gone above and beyond what could have been expected of them. Their courageous and tireless efforts have been nothing short of remarkable. While the active search has come to an end, we can assure you that the investigation is still ongoing. On behalf of National Park Service, we would like to offer our deepest condolences and sympathies to the Elkins and Sutton families. They have been and will continue to remain in our thoughts and prayers.

Surely this was no coincidence. First the unexplained closure, and now the sudden termination of the search? Typically, a search and rescue operation will continue as long as there is reason to believe the subject is still alive and conditions allow. Although the body of Ellie had been found, there was not enough evidence to conclude that Cory had met a similar fate. He was an experienced outdoorsman and extremely fit. He was capable of surviving and enduring in the wilderness. There was no reason to right him off so soon. Had a new lead come in that forced authorities in a different direction, it was not something they were willing to share with the public. In fact, it was fast becoming apparent they knew more than they were letting on.

That very same evening, rumors began to swirl of unusual military activity within the park, as well as the presence of federal agents coordinating some operation with local law enforcement. Reports began to trickle in of low flying helicopters, particularly over the recently closed-off areas, and the same National Guardsmen who’d been part of the search effort were now patrolling on ATVs, assuring that curiosity seekers steer clear. Though it is widely believed this undertaking was part of a more expansive search being conducted for Cory Elkin out of the public eye, there are some who argue that it was focused on something else entirely.

Rory Ackerman, a local paramedic and former member of the Air Force’s elite Pararescue, was part of a mountain rescue squad that agreed to remain throughout the weekend to aid in an independent search. “This wasn’t the Guard, these were special forces,” Ackerman stated. “I learned from one of the Guardsmen we ran into that they were Green Berets out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He said the Feds had jurisdiction over ‘the op’ now but weren’t saying a whole hell of a lot. Shortly after the government response team arrived, pretty much everyone was booted out of the area.”

Everything the military did, what they saw, and how they proceeded was veiled in secrecy. Their black helicopters could be heard at all hours, running wide orbiting patterns and occasionally hovering for extended periods. Once there was even the brief rattle of distant automatic gunfire. It is not common practice for special forces to become involved with a civilian missing person’s case. They were there for a very specific reason, and it had nothing to do with a manhunt for some eccentric hermit, if we are to consider the possibility that Lonnie Kobritz’s sighting was taken more seriously than previously thought.

Early Sunday morning a group of park goers noticed the acrid scent of a wildfire. Curious, they climbed to the top of a nearby ridge where they could see smoke rising above the closed off portion of woods. There, they were confronted by a pair of unidentified men in civilian attire with a distinctive military presence. These men said they were aware of the fire and were monitoring the situation. The hikers were then advised to leave the area – in short, this is no concern of yours, now go away. It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that fire crews were finally allowed into the area to battle the flames. By this time the military had cleared out, along with the cadre of federal agents in their black SUVs.

Wildland fire investigators were later able to locate and identify an incendiary device commonly used by the military, which has led many to believe the fire was intentionally set, perhaps an attempt to purge the land of any evidence that may have been left behind. Jeff Carne said, “This all started that night in the draw. It was still a search and rescue effort up till then. What we ran into wasn’t a bear. Whatever it was scared the bejesus out of that police dog. And there was something about them woods that night. Too quiet. No breeze, no insects. Just that peculiar rock clacking. You just had the sense you were being watched. Very next day the feds were nosing about, and soon as the Sutton girl was found the area gets locked down and the military shows up.” Conceding to the government conspiracy theory, Carne adds, “The way I see it is they caught or killed whatever it was then left, burning half the forest down in the process. Just what ‘it’ was is up for debate. But it wasn’t the kid they were after, it was Elkins, I’ll tell you that much. More than likely, it was what attacked him.”

As the weeks went by, hope that Cory Elkins had survived dwindled. Family and friends, however, continued to meet daily to organize and strategize ways to help bring Cory home. A community organized fundraiser allowed them to keep their search efforts going for a time, but eventually even they had to accept the possibility that he might never be found.

“This has been the most agonizing ordeal our family has had to endure,” said Katherine Elkins. Cory’s mother. “He’s our first thought each morning when we wake, and the last at night. Having to return home each day knowing that our son is still out there somewhere is the hardest part. At this point we’re just looking for some closure. We’ve accepted the fact that he’s gone, but it would help set all our minds at ease if we just had some answers. One way or another, we need to know what happened to our son.”

Monsters of the Smoky Mountains

Recently, Glenn Wuornos, a former regional agent with the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch, agreed to come forward and share some interesting details pertaining the events surrounding the search. What he had to reveal is shocking. “The federal government was on this from the get-go,” he told The Mountain Press in 2018. “They’ve been quietly following these cases for decades. They’re well aware of the scores of visitors who have and continue to vanish from our national parks and forests under mysterious circumstances, and they go to great lengths to prevent this information from getting out to the public. Typically, these agents will serve in an advisory capacity during our search and rescue operations, always keeping a low-profile with an ear to the ground, letting the county sheriff’s departments or other local municipalities handle the grunt work. Once the Sutton girl was found, however, they immediately stepped in and took over, putting a lid on everything. From that point on we were all under strict orders not to address the press in any way without their approval. You see, controlling the narrative is paramount. By restricting what information is released, and what information is withheld, you can dramatically affect the public’s perception of any given event. “

“Just imagine how people would react if they knew the true account of the hiker that lead our rangers to the campsite that day, that it hadn’t been bear cubs rummaging through a backpack he and his wife had seen, but instead a pair of animals they swore bore a striking resemblance to the Ewoks from the Star Wars movies, and that moved about upright on two legs. You can’t let something like that get out. The media would have a field day. Too many questions. So, you change the narrative, tweak the details. Omit the fact that our rangers also saw the animals when they arrived at the clearing. Then demand those same rangers keep quiet and not say a word about chasing after them through the bush for twenty minutes. Seeing as we don’t yet grasp the full scope and nature of what’s happening out there, this lack of disclosure is an effective way to avoid having to reveal the truth. Meanwhile, we go right on telling people that monsters don’t exist. It’s just easier that way.”

Wuornos contends that the Appalachians have a tradition of monster sightings dating back to Native American times, claiming that the earliest settlers to the region told of encounters with fearsome beasts that mutilated livestock and abducted children. “To this day, these mountains are every bit as wild and mysterious. People living in the hills swear their forefathers where not imagining things when they claimed to have encountered monstrous beasts like the Wood Booger, or the Tennessee Wildman.” The descriptions of these creatures, he said, are similar in appearance to Sasquatch, only more human. Standing nearly seven feet tall, they are covered in a heavy growth of dark brown or gray hair, and are known for their eerie, piercing howl. Not surprisingly, the creatures possess great strength, and are said to be quite aggressive and highly territorial.

Before we discount these claims as tall tales, folklore, or superstition, strange encounters have been experienced by a variety of credible witnesses throughout the years, including hunters, campers, and even park rangers and other law-enforcement. The idea of monsters existing in our modern world seems preposterous, but it is easy to see how the topography of the area might give birth to these ominous legends. The entire Appalachian range is cloaked in dense forest, inaccessible in many locations, and full of deep, dark mines, quarries, and caves. Anyone who has spent the night in the wilderness knows it can be an eerie place. Even seasoned outdoorsmen sometimes experience things they can’t readily explain away, and it’s very easy to get spooked. And when you’re deep in the wild, a place devoid of the sights and sounds of civilization and the safety found behind locked doors, we naturally begin to worry about some devilish beast lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce. Perhaps it’s a survival mechanism inherited from our ancestors, a way to keep us on our toes and vigilant. But maybe – just maybe – there really are monsters prowling around out there.

While the idea that rogue Bigfoot-type creatures are responsible for abducting and, in some cases, killing park goers who venture into their domain might sound crazy, it is no less absurd to think that government officials would be withholding information or evidence proving that a rare species of hominid is living in the woods of North America. That is, of course, until you consider the consequences of such an incredible revelation.

“The logging industry, for one, would be greatly affected,” Wuornos opined. “It could also impact those that hunt or fish or participate in any other outdoor recreational activities, as the federal government would now have a responsibility to protect this endangered species, and the critical habitat of its range. Establishing conservation lands would mean a loss of jobs, resources we depend on, along with the revenue from those resources. Our national parks and forests would suffer as many visitors would be threatened by the idea of venturing out into wilderness areas were monsters dwell. Aside from the fear and paranoia, think about the public outcry that would arise after learning that the government knew about these creatures for decades, were aware of the danger they posed, yet failed to warn people. That would be tantamount to accessory in a court of law.”

Yet despite this apparent veil of secrecy, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest the government’s role hasn’t been entirely passive. During a recent independent investigation into the ongoing rash of missing-persons cases on our federal public lands, a pair of researchers uncovered witness statements and unclassified documents which point to a number of instances dating back to the 60s of these creatures having been tracked down and killed. Just as conservation officers would euthanize any wildlife that attacked or otherwise posed a significant threat to the public, a similar response would be expected in dealing with a hostile Bigfoot. With the alleged sightings of the two smaller creatures lurking about the area, could the attack could have been the result of an adult aggressively protecting its offspring. If so, this would certainly warrant a response, and would likely have been the most logical reason for the park closure until the situation was contained.

The mystery surrounding this case has no doubt spawned a good deal of outlandish speculation. Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that no one is quite sure what, exactly, Cory and Ellie were doing out there in the woods. During the investigation, interviews with family and friends yielded one tantalizing clue with reference to a film project the two were allegedly working on in the weeks leading up to their trip; a documentary about the area’s rich history of superstitions and lore. The significance of this is that it lends credence to a theory that the pair weren’t just out on another backpacking adventure, but were instead actively engaged in some sort of monster hunt. This could account for why federal agents had taken such a keen interest in evidence collected at the camp site, and why they seized all of their personal belongings the moment they showed up. Wuornos claimed that, “A confidential source within the sheriff’s department informed me that they never had a chance to review any of it – the cameras, the video equipment, and several audio recordings … all gone. To this day, none of it been returned to evidence. So far as I know, it all vanished into the same black hole that’s consumed everything from the aliens at Roswell to the truth of the Kennedy assassination.”

In the years since the death of Ellie Sutton, and the disappearance of Cory Elkins, several area communities have experienced a number of “shelter-in-place” orders. Officially, these warnings were issued out of an abundance of caution in response to encounters with an aggressive bear.

These incidents are almost always followed by visitations of the men in black SUVs, often seen lurking about for several days in neighborhoods nearest the wilderness areas. Park-goers have also encountered these “government looking men” on the trails as well, where they are often seen scanning the forest with binoculars and hand-held thermal imaging devices. Once, a group of five men were seen operating a large drone as if monitoring some activity in a remote valley.

“Our government doesn’t want us to know what’s going on because that would open the door to other unexplained things they’d rather not be talking about,” said Gatlinburg resident, Boyd McClendon. “If Bigfoot exists, then why not aliens? What’s concerning to me is the uptick in military activity. That tells me there’s a danger the public. Many folks I know don’t go out like they used to. Lifelong hunters and fishermen. No more camping trips because they think something might grab them. That speaks volumes.”

A Cave Mystery

In 2019, on a cold April morning, and over five years after the incident in the Greenbrier, a group of wilderness explorers out fossil hunting made an incredible discovery. In a forest drainage not far from the draw in which Cory Elkins was attacked, the entrance to a cave was discovered. The group had been tramping through the underbrush along a dry creek bottom when someone noticed a hole within the rocky hillside. Further inspection revealed a downward sloping passageway which entered upon a large chamber. Inside, numerous articles of old clothing were found scattered about, along with several backpacks and other items that may have been looted from campsites over the years.

“We were all pretty spooked,” said explorer Mallory Dohring. “We’ve all had things go missing from time to time. Animals in search of food will often rummage though campsites in search of food, and occasionally scurry off with whatever they are able to carry. But this seemed beyond the scope of typical animal behavior in my opinion. We notice the bullet casings immediately upon entering the passageway at the far end of the chamber. We continued for another fifteen, twenty yards, and that’s when we came upon the bones.”

Fellow explorer, Kieran Ackland, continued, “There was some dissension among the group, but it was clear to me these weren’t human remains. They were too damn big – perhaps seven feet or more by my estimation. There were two of them, face down, lying side by side. Considering the litter of spent bullet casings, I couldn’t help to think back to all the military activity we had up this way a few years ago. Is this what they were after, what they were hunting for? I’ve never been one to leave a mystery alone, but in that moment there was no denying the atmosphere of the place had changed, suddenly becoming more oppressive. There was a musky scent to the air, similar to the stink of a skunk, but with an underlying odor of manure. It wasn’t until [name omitted] noticed the eyeshine of something lurking in the dark ahead of us, just beyond the reach of the light from our headlamps, that we decided that it was time to leave. I really regret not having the presence of mind to have taken at least a few photos.”

Upon their return to town, discovery of the unusual remains was immediately brought to the attention of local authorities. To this day, however, it is not known whether these remains were human or animal. Despite repeated requests, no official findings have ever been made public.

As for the cave itself, park officials have stated only that it was deemed a public safety hazard due to the unstable nature of the environment, and has since been sealed. Speculation is that the closure was ordered by the feds, and a contractor working for the park, who wishes to remain anonymous, confirms this, saying, “They had a team on site the day of the sealing. Before we were allowed into the area, we all heard a muffled thump that was felt underfoot. Our foreman told us they had detonated a charge to collapse the cavern within before sealing. I guess they really wanted to make sure no one was getting in.”

Or perhaps it was to prevent something else from getting out.

As of this writing, Cory Elkins remains missing. As for what happened to him that day, theories abound. But no definitive answers. His case – mysterious, eerie, and frustratingly unsolved – remains open to this day.

-THE END-