GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK - A 53-year-old Ohio woman who went missing for a week after hiking with her daughter in the Great Smokies last fall, died of hypothermia, according to an autopsy report, said Dana Soehn, a park spokeswoman.

Mitzie Sue “Susan” Clements went missing Sept. 25, 2018. She had been hiking with her 20-year-old daughter near Clingmans Dome, the highest elevation in the park, which sits on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.

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The two were returning from Andrews Bald on the 1.8-mile Forney Ridge Trail, considered moderate, with an elevation change of about 400 feet from the parking lot to where it descends to the bald at 5,860 feet elevation.

When they were about a quarter-mile from the bald, the daughter went on ahead to climb the Clingmans Dome Tower since she was a faster hiker, with plans to meet her mother back at the parking lot. But Clements never appeared. She was last seen about 5 p.m. that day.

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The search for Clements lasted a week and involved 175 trained personnel from five states and some 50 organizations, helicopters, drones and K-9 units.

It ended when her body was found the night of Oct. 2 in “incredibly thick” vegetation, down the steep Huggins Creek Drainage in Swain County, 2 miles west of the Clingmans Dome parking lot, and three-quarters of a mile south of the Appalachian Trail. The body needed to be extracted by helicopter.

There was no foul play suspected in Clements’ death, Soehn said.

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The tragedy does highlight the many natural hazards that exist in the rugged, heavily forested, half-million-acre park, for experienced and novice hikers alike.

It is common for people to get lost or turned around on top of Clingmans Dome, where there are many trail intersections. The weather on top of the 6,643-foot-high mountain can also change very quickly, with high winds and temperatures dropping well below lower-lying areas of the park.

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There are about 100 search and rescue operations in the Smokies each year. It is the most visited park in the National Park Service, with 11.4 million visitors in 2018. Most rescues do not take longer than a day.

“The park continues to provide safety information for hikers using our website, visitor centers, and our roving volunteers at places like Clingmans Dome,” Soehn said.

“We also send alerts to backcountry hikers via email and texts. We always conduct after-action reviews following serious incidents which provides us an opportunity to learn how we might improve our operations.”

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