As many of you may have already heard, the National Park Service — in coordination with Haywood County Search and Rescue, the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, and several other organizations — is searching for one of our Swag guests, Kevin Mark Lynch, who was last seen around 3:20 pm on Saturday on the Cataloochee Divide Trail.

We, along with the entire staff at The Swag, ask you to join us in praying for Kevin’s safe return, for his wife and family during this time, for continued good weather while the search is ongoing, and for the men and women leading and conducting the search. We have seen their efforts up close and are grateful to the National Park Service, the other organizations, and the volunteers assisting in the search. They are amazing.

We are including more information that was released by The Great Smoky Mountains National Park below. If you have any information, please reach out to the park’s Emergency Communications Center at 865-436-1230. As the National Park Service shared, Kevin suffers from a form of dementia and may be confused about his location. The wonderful men and women at the National Park Service will share more information regarding the search as it is appropriate. Your continued prayers are appreciated!

-Annie and David Colquitt

As shared by The Great Smoky Mountains National Park on 7/28 (from Facebook):

Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers are searching for a 58 year-old male near the Cataloochee Divide Trail in Haywood County, NC. Kevin Mark Lynch was last seen at the Swag Resort along the boundary of the park at 3:20 p.m. on Saturday, July 27. Lynch has mild dementia and may be confused about his location.

Please contact the park’s Emergency Communications Center at 865-436-1230 if you were hiking on the Cataloochee Divide Trail after 3:00 p.m. yesterday or have any information regarding the individual after this time period. Haywood County has issued a silver alert.

Approximately 30 searchers from the National Park Service, Haywood County Search and Rescue, and other partner organizations are in the area today looking for Lynch both on and off trail. He was not carrying any equipment at the time of his disappearance.

Photo: The attached photo was taken of Lynch on the day he was last seen. He was wearing a brown colored shirt and hat.