Teenage girl needs to pee, doesn't want to seem gross to her friends or be teased forever, steps far enough off the trail that her friends are definitely not going to see her. Gets lost. Makes it to the road, decides to hitchhike home.
That's what I was thinking. She seemed in a hurry to the other kids that saw her, bent over, and took a sharp right into a dense wooded area. There was a bathroom emergency.
My thoughts exactly, ngl to me it seems kind of obvious what happened. Idk why this guy says he thinks she tried to meet with an older boy. First off any research would tell you the field trip was 'suprise' so the students didnt know where they were going till get got there. Secondly if she was trying to go missing, this would be the last place you would do it, there was no gaurentee that the group she was would need to stop, she would just do it on the way to / home from work or school
My immediate thought on this case. She suddenly hurried ahead from her friends. Stopped to take a break and then suddenly veered off the trail. That girl had to pee. I'm guessing she stepped off the trail because she desperately had to relieve herself. Either the rest of the students had passed by the time she finished or she purposefully let them all pass because she didn't want them to guess what she'd been doing. Then without the group to follow when she left returned to the path she ended up going to whatever parking lot was scented by the dogs. She attempted to hitchhike home assuming her bus had left without her and met a bad end, possibly ending up trafficked.
My thoughts exactly. The want to continue ahead when others stopped to rest is fitting to wanting to get to a toilet facility. This would explain leaving the trail too. Sadly your hypothesis on what ultimately happened to her may be spot on.
Exactly what i thought. I went hiking with school a lot at that age and would always hold back and let all the boys get ahead before going off trail to pee...although I did usually do it with a friend on watch. I think she got back to the road and was picked up by traffickers...
The amount of people who step off the trail to pee and after that get lost or hurt is something you see so much in stories like these. I think that probability is very high. Especially if she went ahead hurriedly from her friends. No teenage girl wants her friends, esp boys, to be along for that. And getting turned around, scared she missed her friends/bus and then either walked or hitchhiked somewhere that could get her in touch with them again. A panicked teen girl, alone and scared? It's an incredibly dangerous situation to be in. Easy to take advantage of. I think we run ahead with too big fancyful situations, when it most often just boils down to a collection of small decisions, and then irrational panicked actions.
Folk are obsessed with trafficking. What are the actual chances someone goes missing in a hike and has the exceptional bad luck to encounter one vehicle who happens to be in the trafficking business?? It's ridiculous! It's not generally how trafficking works, either.
@@teaspoonsofpeanutbutter6425 I don't think it was trafficking in the "international, professional rings of traffickers" sense, but more in the "she hitchhiked with a man who just happened to have no morals and took advantage of the random stroke of 'luck' he found and abused the circumstance". Opportunistic r*pe and then likely murder at a remote location. She was probably buried in a shallow grave on the assholes property not much longer than a day after she went missing. High odds that it was a local man who lived alone, no connection to any organized crime or anything extravagant like that. I wouldn't be shocked if this was the guys ONLY crime ever, just exploited a really convenient opportunity. It's technically trafficking since your transporting abducted people, but better described as a crime of opportunity.
That's particularly sus. It's possible that the ranger simply didn't think of the implications of his words. As someone who has been apart of searches its easy for the person you were looking for to walk right behind you a minute later and you not know about it.
I don't think the ranger was sus though. I do think he was just trying to narrow down the search area and was a little too confident in that he didn't see her.
I’ve done a rescue where I drive down a road looking for someone and saw no one, turned around and drove down it again. The girl was standing at the edge of the road waving me down. She said she was in the brush and heard my truck but didn’t make it to the road in time, she was scared I wouldn’t come back.
i feel like we really glossed over the boy who tried to break in to “see” her and then said he was gonna kill her??? not even to say that he for sure did it… but like wtf
I know it’s possible they explored all these sightings and decided they weren’t her but it really really bothers me how someone reported a crying girl on the trail and they didn’t even check the trail it was on. That’s so terrible even if it wasn’t her.
A more cynical person might wonder WHY they didn't check. A ranger did say they had driven at least a section of that road and saw nothing. What if that ranger abducted her? I think that it's possible she stepped off trail to pee and possibly got lost, then ended up on the road-crying and disheveled. She would trust a park ranger and get into that vehicle without any issue. No one would suspect that a ranger would have been the culprit. I'm not saying that this hypothetical scenario involved any premeditation about Trenny specifically, just a predator who saw an opportunity and took it. The girl is already missing. You're looking for her, who would suspect you? People go missing all the time. Teenage girls run away with boyfriends, as Aiden proposes. While I don't want to accuse anyone of anything...we do know that many serial predators have worked in law enforcement and other similar capacities. A ranger would have a vehicle large enough to conceal a restrained or unconscious girl, a reason for being where they were, almost certainly the physical strength needed to subdue her. They would probably have items in the vehicle (which I believe would have been a park service truck or similar) that could be used as restraints, even if they didn't have actual rope-caution tape, elastic bandages and other medical supplies would work.
@@QuinTooEpic especially in that time period. Today we know a lot more about serial killers and the minds of criminals in general than we did at the time
In the 70’s people were still hitchhiking. There were several serial killers in the US. The rangers would have the means and opportunity but I am troubled that a boy had Trinney’s jewelry and gave it to his girlfriend. The girl crying report makes me wonder why the person reporting didn’t stop to help her? I was the same age in 1976, I can imagine how she ducked into the brush to pee and got turned around after. But, how did that boy get her jewelry?
As a former teenage girl, I feel like I should comment something that you, being a former teenage boy, probably had not thought about: periods. If the location that she was seen veering out into was accurately reported, then there might be some reasons she would go into the bush. One primary reason being privacy. From your telling of the events it sounds like Trenny Gibson was most likely in search of someplace to relieve herself. The mention of a shortcut may or may not have been said to cover up that she had to relieve herself in the woods. That is something a teenage girl would not want others to know that she had to do. If only to fight off potential nicknames and teasing in the future. While reliving herself, or shortly thereafter, she may have discovered that her period (i.e. her menstrual cycle) had started early. It wouldn't be the first time hiking a mountain caused a period to start early. She probably didn't have a purse or backpack with her-please, someone correct me if I'm wrong-since this was a field trip. She probably didn't have any menstrual products on hand regardless of having a bag or not due to it coming early. Gibson could have been on a period already and her menstrual flow increased due to the change in altitude, which may have still led to potential bleed through. Again, being a girl, I know the feel of shame and embarrassment whenever my period bleeds through my clothes. She may have been facing a similar situation. Thus, here is one possible scenario to consider. Trenny Gibson, who was a 16 year-old teenage girl, could have suddenly found herself on her period while in the woods. And, most likely without any feminine pads or tampons on hand, she spends several minutes thinking what to do. She may or may not have been suffering from menstrual cramps as well. If she did suddenly suffer menstrual cramps she might have been unable to move or walk for several minutes, or longer. She may or may not have fashioned a makeshift feminine pad out of something on hand. She probably did take off her outer shirt and tied it around her waist, using it to cover anything that may have spotted through. This is something lots of girls and women do when a period comes early. I do realize the temperature that day was very cold being in the 30's, yet I can still reasonably see her doing such a thing if it kept her modesty covered. (I've been there myself as well as other women. I've had to take off my jacket and use it in such a way when it was in the 20's. Thankfully, it was in civilization, but still a teenager probably went with protecting her modesty or preventing embarrassment over keeping warm.) Trenny Gibson may have purposefully waited until her schoolmates had past her, so she wouldn't be seen by them leaving the bush and getting back to the trail, not wishing anyone to guess what had happened. (Think of the embarrassment kind of thing.) Gibson may have gotten turned around, or couldn't get back onto the trail, or she endivered to actually use a shortcut through the woods. Gibson may have gone the way or path the dogs indicated. She may not have been "seen" in the public places due to simply having her outer shirt tied around her waist, changing her description slightly. Gibson may have gone to the wrong parking lot, and wrongfully concluded that the bus had already left without her. With no access to a phone, she probably decided walking back home was her only choice. Or, walking to someplace that did have a phone where she could then call her family to come pick her up. That is one scenario. Granted, one based entirely on conjecture, but it might explain why she went off the path.
My mind is stuck on one of the comments from a witness that said after she walked ahead of them, she bent over before going off into the woods. In my mind that doesn't say period, that says diarrhea. And walking away from your female friends rather than asking one of them to walk behind you doesn't sound like she bled through her pants.
@@TheRealBethFekete That can indicate diarrhea because cramps can happen during it. However, that doesn't necessarily rule out periods either. Menstrual cycles affect women differently-one could say it is a spectrum of sorts. For some, periods are light in their flow with minimal discomfort or zero cramping. For some others, periods are heavy in their flow with incredible pain and extreme cramping. There are, of course, areas between the two extremes. Everyone is different. If she had bleed through, it isn't that bizarre that she didn't ask her friends to cover for her by walking close behind her. She may not have wanted anyone to know. She might not have had anyone she trusted to ask. I have heard of family stories around that time where they were ridiculed and called our in front of their peers or class from people they thought were their friends due to menstrual spotting. From what I have gathered for that time, menstrual cycles were still very much not publicly talked about. She may have had an accident, and her pants were soiled. That would be something someone would not want others to see or know about. Trenny Gibson may have been having moderate to extreme cramping, as evidenced by her bending over before walking off the trail. She could have also been looking at something that had caught her curiosity. Or, the witness was mistaken, and she never bent over before going off trail. She could have had the misfortune of having both diarrhea and a period hit at the same time. We just don't know. We can speculate from what little we do know, and we can discuss our conjectures.
my hypothesis is that she somehow got lost, found the road, asked a driver for a ride back to the parking lot , but was abducted. this story still doesn’t make a lot of sense tho. also, i find it kinda wild that the school would allow them to go on this trail when three young people had gone missing and not found alive on that trail in the past seven years. or maybe i’m just too cautious when it comes to safety lol
Ehh back in this time they didn’t care about safety. There’s so many different stories it’s hard to know what to believe. Got a guy saying he saw a girl crying walking down the road but no girl ever found, kids saying she went off trail up ahead of them after they stopped but it was heavily dense forest and big downhill slope, so many different accounts. I just don’t understand why she would go off trail and if she didn’t go off trail it seems like they weren’t very far from the parking lot and would have found it and wouldn’t have tried cutting through some dense trees to try and take a shortcut. None of it makes any sense. I think most likely somehow she got lost, got to the road and then got kidnapped… unless there’s some deep hole she fell in somewhere so her body was never found.
@@davidbiagi2932 a plausible reason for her to go off trail, and deeper into the woods than many are anticipating, would be because she needed to pee. Teenage girls especially would make sure to be fully out of sight of her peers than most boys or men would. Depending on her sense of direction she could easily have misremembered the way back to the trail and got lost, and had just been missed by search parties.
This has always been my assumption - either that or the guy that was interested in her (who also had possession of jewelry she was allegedly wearing at the time of her vanishing and later gave it to his GF, who refused to give it back to the family?)
The school probably didn't even know about the other disappearances. There was no internet and if it wasn't talked about on the local news or radio recently in that schools county, there isn't really reason anyone at the school would remember the cases. Stuff was way more local back then, it was easy to not hear about things going on across your state let along nationally, unless it was like big national news.
I worked at a pizza shop with bobbi back in 2016! Shes a super nice lady. This day still very much haunts her. She told me about this when we worked together and she still wonders what happened. She said it didn't make sense, and she shouldn't have been able to just disappear like that.
It's what makes us human. “Our behavior is different. How often have you seen a headline like this?--TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out. Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature--a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers
I would say, it’s ever more …concerning or odd that it seems like most bodies are found by people walking their dogs. . or slightly less, hikers, hunters…and yes I am including a lot of David Paulides’ case studies , but even in news papers you’ll see “person found after area searched 4 times by SAR”.. etc.. That’s the part I don’t usually get. And: yes, SAR workers as well as volunteers are doing a great service indeed.
@@JordanHowellMusic if you have a dog this shouldn't be odd to you at all. Dogs sniff a lot, it's how they see the world and they find weird things that we can't. On walks my dog has found multiple arrows, 3 pairs of glasses, a light fixture, several fireball shot bottles, and a lost phone. No bodies, but we don't have many missing folks here.
SAR people. Some of the best people on the planet. They put themselves in dangerous situations to try and save others. And thst goes for the SAR animals too.❤
Honestly your critiques of David Politis (sp?) and paranormal investigations writ large are what keep me coming back. They're honest reflections, and you rarely overcommit to an idea without solid evidence
It's spelled Paulides. I agree with you, and in fact I think Aiden is too soft on Paulides (probably because he doesn't want to piss off viewers even more than he has with his kid-glove criticism).
what bothers me a bit is the part were one of the searchers says he passed a crying girl on the road while driving but didnt think to stop and talk to her, instead carried on driving
I mean that’s not an unheard of tactic for thieves to use, having a woman walking alone by the side of the road asking for help, when u pull over a group of men jump out of the trees. It is a much better idea to keep driving and then call someone to check it out
@@miagomoski2739 But would someone have thought about that back then? Trenny went missing when hitchhiking was far more common, so would the person even know that could happen?
When I was 14 (in the early 2000s) I was on AOL chatting with older men. I suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts from age 9, my mom was emotionally absent due to a pain pill addiction, so I was desperate to find love and attention. I invited three different men to my house when my mom was away for work trips. Now, nothing untoward ever happened, we just hung out and watched movies or went to the mall, but I was incredibly stupid. My mom was completely clueless, as were my friends, and I'm sure if something had happened to me, no one would have guessed the truth. I was the quiet kid in school, introverted and got good grades. My mom didn't even know I was on the internet and in chat rooms. You make a really good point about the ring. I myself was thinking she was abducted but the ring really stands out.
Anyone else think she was in a rush bc she had to use the bathroom? Then maybe decided to go off trail and pee in private? Bc thats the only reason i personally would rush ahead of friends and also go off trail during a field trip. Maybe, she got lost after that?
That could definitely make sense but wouldn’t explain how she was never found. If attacked by an animal after going off trail, surely someone would’ve heard her scream or they would’ve found a body or any evidence of a body
@@charissimpson235she wasn’t attacked by an animal, 5 different dogs all followed her scent down to the road before losing it. If I was in her shoes I would have walked down the middle of the road (like she did) until I either found something, or hope someone would drive by and help me. Unfortunately I think the devil was driving that road that day and we will likely never truly know what happened to her, may she rest in peace.
The problem with that is that four scent dogs followed her scent on a trail down to a road. How could she be lost if she stayed on the trail and made it to a road?
8:47 super appreciate the walking markers to show where searches are going along trails... just saying going north along xyz trail doesn't help the imagination..having visuals along trails is just perfect thank younfor the effort!❤
I have been literally waiting for you to take a look at the Trenny Gibson case. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Smokies and I love Clingman’s Dome . Trenny’s case has always stood out to me and unsettled me. If you’re interested there’s a more recent Clingman’s Dome case where in fall of 2018 a 53 year old woman name Mitzie and her 20 year old daughter were hiking Forney Ridge, which is a trail that begins in the Clingman’s Dome parking lot. It’s just shy of 2 miles of fairly moderate terrain that descends about 400 feet and leads fo Andrews Bald. The two were returning from the Bald and after hiking for about a quarter mile, with a remaining 1.6 miles to go before reaching the parking lot the daughter decided to separate from her mom and hike ahead. This was because she was a faster hiker and wanted to return to the parking lot and have time to then do the short hike to the top of the Dome tower. They agreed to meet up in the Clingman’s Dome parking lot when both were done. The daughter reached the lot, proceeded hike to the top of the tower and down again but when she returned to the parking lot her mother was nowhere to be found. It took about a week of searching to find her. When they did, she has died of hypothermia and her body was found in incredibly thick and dense vegetation down a steep creek drainage. So dense in fact that her body had to be removed via helicopter.
Some people might be critical but I love the Palides smack downs. Misinformation in cases like this can be harmful, and at least how he presents so much is less than ideal. Also the cluster style you’re doing now is great. Makes things easier to follow
Paulides is in the business of selling books. His videos are meant to be teasers to buy his books. I don't have any of his books but he implies that there is a lot more information about the cases he covers if you read the books. Recently he seems to have backed off of the super natural suggestions and includes more mundane possibilities. But remember mundane teasers do not sell books.
@@Balrog-tf3bg He lost a lot of credibility with me too. I have called him out on it when it was obvious that he was really stretching to make a connection with his theory. I look at him like I do Sigmund Freud, he started the whole concept and got a lot of things wrong so it isn't going to be perfect but it allows others to build on it and hopefully someone eventually will discover some of the answers.
I would be about Trenny's age and remember having a star sapphire ring and at that time, it was only maybe 100.00. Alot in the 70's but not crazy money...alot of girls had these. Very popular.
I had a star sapphire in my high school class ring. I graduated in '05, and the ring was less than $200. Is the one he's showing in the video the one she had? That one looks like a men's ring. I must have missed something else too, because where is the $3300 price tag coming from?
@@TheRealBethFekete I actually looked it up. There are men's rings with huge stones that might go for that now but not back then. My teen boyfriend gave it to me and It was 14 carat gold and from a jewelry store. It does make a big difference since that info just isn't correct. They were very popular at that time which I'm sure you can concur. Pretty but not as expensive as a small diamond. I feel like someone just didn't see the need of really looking into that small fact. I saw somewhere her mom was the one who told someone about it but doubt her memory's biggest issue was it's cost? Perhaps she didn't even know?
@@kaytalk9448 I was looking at women's rings in the 70s style and they're about $400, in the late 70s that would have been about $80. I'd really like a definite answer on where the ring info and price came from.
As someone who had horrible bowel issues, i can see where shed need to get off the trail asap and tried to be sly or tried to hide that fact by making it seem like she was going to do something else. Not sure what would have happened after that, but whoo does bathroom emergencies and self consciousness make you do strange things.
About 5 years ago my wife and I couldn't get up to see Clingman's Dome because a woman had told her daughter she'd catch up in a minute 1mi up the AT from the parking lot. SAR found her body a week later in a wash. Died of exposure in October. Never underestimate the ability of your average unprepared person with no compass, no navigational skills, and no way of signaling for help to get lost in some trees and freeze to death because it got cold at night.
One thing I learned years ago is that someone could be looking straight at me and still not see what I was doing, no misdirection involved. People don't really focus on what is in front of them; they are too busy thinking their own thoughts.
There is a video where a person dressed as a bear goes through a bunch of people doing some activity that makes you focus on them and most people do not even notice the person dressed as a bear.
As someone else pointed out, based on the comment that she seemed in a hurry to leave, I'm inclined to believe that she wanted to go to the bathroom. Got off trail to do her business privately, that either took a while because things are like that somethimes, or she got a little lost, enough time for the whole group to pass her location. Granted, I don't know how could she had reached the area the dogs picked up the scent without recognizing the trail she left in the first place, but the anxiety of going to the bathroom in the woods and then getting lost might have been enough for her to miss the right turn and continue past it. Then, she could have reached the road, and run into the wrong bastard- therefore being abducted. A very unfortunate series of events. I'm inclined to believe there is a good amount of chance that someone picked her up from the road after getting lost, and that person is the reason she never turned up again.
I absolutely see not going to the first tree but a bit further in, just in the off chance someone does come along. From there, all it takes is not finding the way back to the trail.
There’s nothing wrong with being skeptical about the David. Especially when there’s sometimes evidence that appears out of nowhere. He does seem to have a habit of it. Especially when he apparently takes from other sources who don’t provide sources for certain claims.
Hijacking just to confirm, as a person who grew up around this area, Aiden is 100% correct. If someone mentions 'The Y' in those mountains with no other context, the Townsend Wye swimming hole is for sure what they're talking about.
I’ve been waiting legit watched all your stuff over the past week. Can’t get enough of it. Highly considering joining your patreon would be the first time I’ve ever done that.
I’ve been doing the same, I also just joined the patreon. I joined one of the higher tiers but the lower tiers are just as good. Not as much on it recently but I’d still say it’s a good idea if you afford it and want to support them. Some great content on there too!
Thanks. Very enjoyable! On other podcasts, I've heard that the students weren't told the destination of their field trip until the bus was leaving. So the vengeful boy probably had no way to know Trenny would be at Clingman's dome.
Hate that you were bullied to stop doing the history in the beginning of all videos. They were absolutely fascinating especially all of the parallels between native religions and judaeo-Christian bible
So, I was just at Cligman's dome/cherokee etc.....those forests are absolutely impenetrable and the tops of the hills covered in trees so if you get lost with zero outdoors experience you will be wandering. If she didn't leave on purpose....my guess is she left the group to go into the bushes to use the restroom. You may even mention a shortcut so you don't have to tell someone you really gotta go. Then she falls and hits her head and passes out for a while. When she comes to there's no one around and is disoriented, concussed, and wanders further into the forest getting impossibly lost further away and dies eventually. Or that same thing happens and she finds the road and is picked up by the wrong person. Side note: the 70s was absolutely wild and like a 30 year old and high schooler was not looked upon super favorable but def not unheard of. My parent's gym coach literally got a student pregnant, got married to her, and kept his job as a teacher. Insanity back then.
This one hits me because she and I are the same age -- her and friends' yearbook pucs look like mine. So here's my thought: I wonder if she unexpectedly got her period and, out of embarrassment, hid in the brush off trail until she could figure out what to do. If her female friends were too far ahead to ask for a pad, she might've stayed in the brush, embarrassed, afraid, and then ... got too far behind. It seems silly, but it's impossible to describe the sheer horror of an unexpected period-accident to a teenage girl in the 70s. If a bear or other animal is attracted by the scent of blood, could she have been dragged off and killed? Just my two cents on a terribly tragic situation.
I came very close to (accidentally) dying hiking from a slip on a rock in Forney Creek in 2002, just south of the Dome. It was a very simple slip that lead to a ~75' slide down the mountain and into a pool. I'm still not sure to this day how I escaped with only minor injuries. I share this anecdote to illustrate how an experienced backpacker, doing something innocuous (like just walking along) could sustain a serious injury. Additionally, the present day park is extremely dense, and it's easy to lose sight of the trail, other people, etc, and it's unlikely that it was that different 50 years ago. It's likely, to me at least, that she possibly sustained a fall or got lost and then died of exposure.
I literally live in Knoxville, have for years, drive past Bearden High School several times a week, and lived in East Tennessee my ENTIRE 33 years of life... never heard this one.
Living in Knoxville: a resident of Knoxville, TN. Literally living in Knoxville: a resident of Knoxville, TN who gets waaaaayyyyy too excited watching true crime videos and comments without proofreading.
@@TheHaratashi There is literally a huge difference. Living in Knoxville is like ya know just being there man. Like squaresville man. Literally living in Knoxville is like being one with Knoxville, like digging it literally and it literally digging you man... literally.
I've been out to Clingman's Dome Tower before. While I agree about the point that it's a tourist destination and lots of people could have seen her, it was SUPER crowded and there's alot of big cement ramps that coil up to the tower. Most of the folks are probably not from the area and paying more attention to the size of the structure. I'm sure the Rangers have a hell of a time picking someone out. Though, I went there in like 2014 and not the 70s so there's that.
omg! I saw this thumbnail like 5x on my feed and kept thinking Trenny...App Trail..I guess he's another missing 411..but I kept feeling like I needed to watch..then I remembered it's the girl Trenny! Aww so glad you're on this one! I know this one! I was just drawing a blank. I was on Namus for hours last night and you're not kidding about the missing people in the 1970's...there's so many Jane Does..stil unsolved from then.
Another phenomenal video. I would love for this channel to do a deep dive into the case of Judy Smith. Out of any case it’s the one that I genuinely can’t even come up with any plausible explanation for. She was from Massachusetts. Married. Went to Philadelphia for a business trip with her husband. She vanishes in Philly. Without a trace. 4 months later she’s found dead 600 miles away in the Pisgah National Forest of North Carolina.
So something interesting I saw bought up with Judy is that the identification of her remains was almost SOLELY based on dental records - there was never DNA done for her. Therefore it's not implausible that the remains found aren't actually hers - given the location and entirely different clothing, etc, and the fact that dental records have led to mistaken IDs in the past (Valentine Sally (Carolyn Eaton) being misidentified as Melody Cutlip comes to mind). The only other identifiers linking the body to Judy were that she had arthritis in her knees (not uncommon for a woman in her age group) and her wedding band (which you think would be an important clue but it was a generic wedding band which was widely available).
I agree. I would love to see this channel cover the Judy Smith case. It's a bizarre one, for sure. I had no idea that the remains found in North Carolina that were supposedly hers, were not tested for DNA, to be totally sure it was Judy. I find that a bit disturbing, to be honest. At any rate, her case is very bizarre, and it would be really great to see and hear this channel do a video on that case. Good call on your part, since that is a very strange case that needs much more investigation. So many questions that still need answers.
I gotta say, the dots on the map was a big help for showing people’s movement on the Google maps. It can be a bit confusing sometimes with all the pings. Hopefully more things like this can pop up in future with the channel expansion
the ring was likely from a family member or gift for christmas/ birthday. my grandmother often gifts me expensive jewelry and rings. at 16, i had friends with expensive or vintage rings and jewelry that were either previously owned by their mothers/grandmothers or gifts from them.
Yeah any number of reasonable explanations for the ring which are harmless. She could just also really want it and bought it on her own as her big savings goal as well. But at the same time it is the type of thing an older guy with a job would get a teenage female to impress and groom her.
@@jamesknapp64 i think both are plausible explanations. i just think aidan didn’t think about the possibility of it being a gift. but yeah, it could go either way
One would think that her parents would know where the ring came from. Lots of relatively inconspicuous questions left unanswered that could possibly lead somewhere.
Love your visual aids added in on your maps. I use to have to stress over rewatching some sections to understand the narrative onto the maps you display. Please keep doing this, muchly appreciated.
Thank you for showing the prices! The vast majority of sponsors or reviews don't shoe the prices. Why? Well perhaps it is because it has been statistically proven a person is more likely to buy a product of you get them in the door as it were before hitting them with the cost.
There are too many ads on top of the sponsors; and will never purchase anything suggested. In fact, it’s getting pretty close to not even bothering with YT or any social platform. I’m going dark.
One thing you failed to mention that does not support the runaway theory is the fact that the teacher did not disclose where they were going until they were on the bus. However her mother originally was going to be a chaperone but then baxked out at the last minute so she could have known where they were going and told her daughter.
if she was seeing someone and wanted to run away with him he could've followed in his own vehicle, and ofc she could've also just hitched a ride from a stranger and again could've met a terrible end that way
From what I've heard the class had no idea where their field trip was going until the teacher announced it when they were leaving. She would have no way to tell anyone ahead of time to meet her there to meet up with them. Unless someone followed the bus from the school parking lot all the way to Clingmans Dome...which i believe was a 45 min trip...no one knew where this class was going that day for her to make plans to run off with someone. And of all days to plan this, a school field trip seems way harder than just sneaking out of school, after school or sneaking out of your house to run off...why do it on a school field trip and bring none of your belongings, money or anything with you if it were planned? Also, the boy her mother shot from what i remember was a black student who was obsessed with her and broke into their house. But teachers and students all gave him an alibi that he was in school that day and never left for any significant amount of time to get to clingmans dome, harm her, hide her body, then return to the school with no one noticing he was missing from classes that day. If she went off trail where the kids said she did why did none of the search dogs track that path? They all tracked her scent at the bottom of the path by the dome going off in another direction. My only guess is she went into the woods, possibly to use the restroom, got turned around and lost, found her way to a road and asked someone for a ride either to the parking lot where her field trip was meeting up or to a phone to call home...but someone probably saw a young girl crying, lost, panicking, and vulnerable and took advantage of the situation. My guess it was a crime of opportunity and she was either abducted off the side of the road or trusted that person to help her and she was taken out of the area immediately and harmed unfortunately.
You have done a terrific job researching the search and presented an account of the search that I have never heard the details of before. However, there is one thing not mentioned and I have no idea why. In the brush at the place Gibson was seen "turning right off the trail" dogs were brought in and found a scent that led them to a place close to the trail but from the trail you could not see it. There, a nearly empty beer can was found along with about four cigarette butts. As the search continued they did find the scent of Gibson close by the observation tower, which led to Collins Gap and to the road. Though it is not clear where in the original accounts given by trackers, Her scent was found at a place hidden from the road, where there were at least 11 cigarette butts found, being the same brand as those found just off the Andrews Bald trail. These are important to suspicions that serial killer grabbed Gibson and got her out of the park. Originally prior to 2004, researcher who was also a backpacker and who had a trail name of Lone Wolf which he also used to write his information. Believing Hilton was Gibson's abductor and murderer, he did extensive research into known locations where Hilton had been, starting with his birth, then being arrested for assault, joining the army, getting a new driver's license listing his home as being in North Carolina to the east north east of the Great Smoky Mountains. Then his trackable paperwork shows that he was in Florida and later in Georgia, and then back to North Carolina. Then he reappears in Forida. The list continues up until the time that he murdered a woman in a National Forest. She had broken down by the side of the road, and apparently took her to his camp, murdered her and disposed of her remains by burning. The evidence that was found was sufficient to convict him of murder and sentenced to death. He is now on death row. But he was not yet on the radar when he committed three other murders, all within National Forest land and in a Georgia state park. When he was captured after murdering Meridith Emerson, instead of denying what he did he confessed and in an interview with Georgia detectives who wanted to know where her body was, he said he would take them to the body if the death penalty in Georgia was taken off the table. They also asked him many questions about why he killed (for money from ATM machines) and how he had abducted Emerson. It sounds similar to what we know about Gibson's abduction if the cigarette evidence and the tracking of her scent from where the cigarette evidence was first found, to the tower and then to the location where the other cigarette evidence is included. Emerson was hiking on a feeder trail to the Appalachian Trail when she was attacked from behind, even as other hikers were getting near. He managed to keep her quiet until after dark when he moved her to an area in the woods on a hill over the the parking lot that was also being used by other truck and RV campers. He kept her bound with a gag and waited until there was no movement in the area, then took Emerson down to the campground, put her in his white van and left the parking area, driving many miles to get away from the site of the abduction. Well, similar, yes, but Emerson was abducted and murdered in January, 2008 and the events of Gibson took place in October, 1976. That takes us back to a period when Hilton had last left a paper trail and does not reappear until a couple of years later, in Florida. When the trail for Hilton was being prepared a former FBI profiler was interviewed for a television program concerning Hilton. I kept printed records of all of the information I found on Hilton, which also included a the web address of the source. Sadly a few years back, I entered a number of these addresses and found that they no longer exist as active sites. But to continue, the former FBI profile was commenting on the four abductions and deaths of his known victims, including a movie Hilton and a lawyer made together about a man living in the mountains of North Georgia who kidnaps young women, leaves them bound but lets them go so that he can hunt them and kill them with a rifle. The movie went straight to VHS and was available for a short time. The FBI man noted that the film certainly indicates that Hilton had thought a lot about the pros and cons of killing women in that manner,. Then later, when he kills the four people in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, Hilton showed all the signs that he was a very organized killer and that Hilton had not suddenly arrived on the scene and started killing, that instead, he was very practiced and had done it many times before he was caught. I spend several years researching this information when I was not working and have a lot more information about the lawyer he associated with, how Hilton had pulled some of his front teeth in order to look more frightening to potential victims, etc. I compiled all of this and sent it to the federal prosecutor how tried Hilton over the murders of the elderly couple in the national forest. I have never heard from that prosecutor and in 2017 met an FBI agent Andy wife and I became social friend with him and his wife and tree children. I did tell him about this and asked him if I could expect to hear anything from the prosecutor. He told me that I would never hear from the prosecutor because of two reasons, Feds just don't discuss things relating to cases, especially one that has not had a conclusion. The other reason was that when there is a serial killer involved who is arrested and convicted, that the Feds think that there is no reason to continue to investigate if little is know other than someone disappeared and that there is only circumstantial evidence due to the fact that a conviction has already occurred and it should be arguably unnecessary to have another trial unless another agency finds physical evidence that undoubtedly points to the murderer already in prison. So do not think that Gibson simply met an older man and ran off with him. The problem with that theory is that it would not be revealed to anyone, not even the parents, that there was going to be a field trip that day at Bearden High School. For that older man to have followed the bus and then known where to find Gibson is really quite unlikely.
@@TheLoreLodge They are mentioned in the news story that two local women wrote for a local newspaper and are mentioned in Dwight Carter's book but at the moment I am away from home and cannot verify when the story was published . One thing Dwight mentioned in one of his books about tracking dogs that I found interesting because I had often seen my border collie do.He said that because blood hounds are not good at finding the source of a scent that they began to use them along with Border Collies because the latter could pick up a scent in the air and go straight to the origin. But Border Collies do not interest themselves of tracking a scent on the ground, they marked the spot on the ground brought in the blood hounds. Using that method they were able to find many more lost people, especially children. My own Border Collie loved deer droppings and what I noticed was that she would find a scent in the air and go straight to the source without having to sniff around in other directions first. Talk about super powers, she had many. One for instance was that she could of course hear sounds I could not. We often hunted bugs in the house, with her finding them, then standing at point so I could see what was there, then I could kill it. I always had to show her what I had killed so that she could see what exactly she had pointed to and she would look very happy once I did that. So one day she came and got me to follow her and she pointed to a metal flower vase. So I looked in and there was a young green lizard, the kind that likes to show its orange pouch inflated as a mating sigh. I retrieved the lizard and did not kill it but showed it to her. She had no interest in killing it but showed me that she was concerned that I do the right thing. We went outside and I put it on a leaf from a bush so she could see it was free, and then the look of concern turned into happiness. She also did that when we were out in the garage and it turned out to be a baby possum. It was caught inside a green recycling bin and I am not kidding when I say she suddenly looked very motherly showing sympathy for the baby. So I picked it up and took it to a young tree in a thicket and made sure it fastened its fingers and toes onto the tree because as you know, they very often play dead and won't move a bit to convince you that it is dead. But this one was young and did latch onto the tree. My Border Collie came over and sat down to watch while I left. In a moment she came over and made a motion to let me know I should look again, and the baby was gone! Ive heard of Border Collies heading chicks and ducklings so I suppose that this was no different!
Seems to me she had to go to the bathroom. She then wandered off the trail in order to get far enough away to not be seen by her classmates to avoid embarrassment. She probably got confused as to which way the trail was, panicked and then traveled further away from the trail. She either got hurt in her panic or died from exposure in the following days. It seems to be a stretch that she made it to the road and then some other unfortunate event befell her.
Four separate dogs traced her to the road. That’s unlikely to be a coincidence. They also very thoroughly checked the immediate area, and she wasn’t there.
If you ever do anything about the Appalachian trail again you should reach out to kyle hates hiking. He does alot of missing person/true crime stuff about that area, is from there, and has hiked the at. Could be some good insight
This is a crazy disappearance. Being close to her age makes me feel so bad that she went missing, with such a bright future. Really makes you wonder if she lived in this age, would this have happened?
I’ve heard ay least half a dozen stories about Trenny Gibson and in ALL OF THEM a semi creepy friend is mentioned. You are the first one to question the inclusion of that young man. Makes me wonder if people are just reading Paulides and not digging into the background, which just makes me appreciate your channel the more. I’ve been culling my subscriptions, and this one definitely makes the cut. Your research is above and beyond. I’ll be plugging in for this entire series FOR SURE
I have just recently found your channel & The Missing Enigma as well. The thing I love about your channel & your viewers (judging by comments) is it seems most of us are levelheaded in deciding on a reasonable conclusion for these cases. Seems we’re using our shared experiences, logic, physical police records & Occam’s razor in determining outcomes here. Love this ⬆️ & love the channel!! ❤
I've seen comments disappear form his channel, that offer any kind of criticism, that would 'dispell' his version of a missing person case he labels with '411'. I seen one today get deleted. Took a screenshot of it as well, and posted it to another channel that was referred to in the comment. I have also seen him get questioned about why he doesn't get the '411' peer reviewed. It was on his twitter. He claimed if the '411' was to be peer reviewed, whoever does it, would end up owning the rights to his so-called work, which is complete, and utter BS.
@@deerichardz he said in his latest video that he’s going to be going out of town but still uploading videos, he said, “I’m going to have to turn off the comments section, but UA-cam does that on their own so it might not even be because of me, anyways…” He’s so manipulative and controlling. A cult leader perhaps?
According to everything I have read about Trenny Gibson, the students were not informed of the destination of the field trip until they were boarding the bus. That makes it difficult for Trenny to make arrangements for someone to meet her. This was years before every teenager had a phone glued to their hand.🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁
The whole thing about them being unaware of the field trip seems to stem from Juanita Baldwin’s Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains, and is uncorroborated with no sources listed.
The 'villagers' call anyone critical of Paulides' '411', haters. And Paulides keeps on agreeing with them. It's all there in his comment section for anyone to view.
Buncombe County - Buncombe is pronounced bun-come, with the 'n' being short and hard, and the last part is like 'come' not like a 'comb.' 😁 We are going to need an Appalachian English course on duo-lingo...
@@RoMaRobMarq this is true! Funniest mispronunciation yet that I've seen on UA-cam is Nantahala. No one from outside of the area can say it straight. All I can say is watch out for dem haints in dem hollers, Daddy done told me, less you wind up with a pump knot on your head trying to skeedaddle away from 'em. 😆
I just found your channel and am really liking the content. I have a suggestion (I looked through your past videos and did not see it) and that is the Death Valley Germans. I don't know if you do content on the west coast but it is a really interesting story.
I'm from Sevierville which is very close to the Smoky Mountains and where this happened. The Y or Wye you are talking about in the video is correct. It's a popular swimming location that everyone around here knows about so it makes sense that a Park Ranger would use it to describe his location.
I've been studying this story for 20 years and honestly I think she went off trail, either due to confusion or needing to pee, and got lost. I've almost gotten lost in that area of the park myself.
A loooot of people assume they can walk into the treeline 10-20 feet (if she was holding her stomach, we can guess what she had to do, id wanna be a good distance from my friends before doing that), then turn around and they'll see the trail. You'd _think_ you couldnt miss a giant strip of woods without trees, but its surprising how quick you _cant._ When they realize they cant see it, all that has to go wrong is for them to pick the wrong direction to walk. They panic when they realize it was the wrong way, pick a new, wronger way. By the time they realize its dire, theyre out of earshot and the trees act to muffle sounds. Then comes panicked adrenaline, exhaustion, hypothermia. And then David Paulides writes a book about you.
Something nobody takes into account in this particular area, as far as people getting lost, is that there is a long abandoned logging railroad grade not far from where she went missing. If someone who isn’t necessarily accustomed to the Smokies found this railroad grade, it would probably seem like a very good option to get out of the mountains. Unfortunately it travels almost three miles south before dropping down an incline grade down to Forney Creek itself. She’s not the only person to go missing within a half a mile of said railroad grade, and having hiked the entire grade, it would be very easy for someone to get lost, find the obvious grade, and try to follow it until they couldn’t continue anymore.
Aiden, you're killin it with these videos!! I also agree with you. She probably met up with a boyfriend (most likely an older man) and took off with him. After that..there's no telling what happened or where she ended up. Sad.
With no signs found in the woods and all the dogs following the same path, she either got lost and was subsequently abducted by a stranger or she purposely hid and met up with a guy to run away to meet whatever end. This one doesnt feel like shes still in the park.
I think what would make this even better is if it had a link to all the sources in the video for the general public to view. not having it behind a paywall would give people a much better view of your character.
The only conclusion I am willing to make regarding Trenny's disappearance is that she seemed to walk out of the park. It may have been to meet someone down on the road or she was escorted out by someone else. The 4 or 5 dogs tracking to the same spot is the best evidence there is in this case. My question is why didn't Trenny get in touch with her family even a decade or two later if it was voluntary? I feel it didn't end well for Trenny. Was she duped and trafficked? Was she emotionally played by an abusive guy pretending to love her and sweep her away to their dream life? The initial leaving may have been voluntary but not hearing anything from her over the course of four plus decades to me implies something nefarious happened to her.
@@maryeckel9682 There was an unexpressed recognition that young girls had missing daddy issues and was looking for a father figure/ spouse. That was near the beginning of the era of the single mother epidemic. My second wife fell into that category. Her father died when she was eight and she had bonded with him. I was 11 years older than her and a single mother. My commitment to her made the marriage last 32 years thinking that eventually she will get over her abandonment issues but I was wrong.
I could see the reason for her being in a hurry is that she needed to use the restroom. That could also be the reason for her leaving the trail momentarily, but I doubt she would get lost in that scenario. I have heard elsewhere that this was a surprise trip that the students were not told where they were going ahead of time? That sounds strange because kids still had to have permission slips signed by a parent for a trip like this. I was much younger than she was, but we always needed a permission slip for field trips. Anyway, maybe her "friends " tricked her into leaving the trail for some reason?
When I was a teenager I lived in a small town in upstate NY. In the middle of this small town was a patch of woods. Walking in any direction for an hour or two in these woods is going to take you to one of two roads, the high school, or an old cemetery near the outskirts of town. Even knowing this, two of my friends and I still got turned around and lost for a few hours in the woods. It was getting dark, and the other girl and I were starting to get scared. Thankfully the boy we were with kept a cool head and got us out near the high school. My point is that even in that small patch of woods, we got lost. I can totally see how easy it would be to get lost on the freaking Appalachian Trail. I panicked and I was with others, being alone and scared would be so much worse.
It’s a little surreal to hear about a missing girl near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge… My family and I vacationed there sometimes, I even went there for school trips!
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@@KryptKicker5 oh it’s under construction
Aidan, If she was into Astrology she would have bought that ring on her own. And it would be an expensive one. Just another possibility.
Teenage girl needs to pee, doesn't want to seem gross to her friends or be teased forever, steps far enough off the trail that her friends are definitely not going to see her. Gets lost. Makes it to the road, decides to hitchhike home.
That's what I was thinking. She seemed in a hurry to the other kids that saw her, bent over, and took a sharp right into a dense wooded area. There was a bathroom emergency.
@@TheRealBethFekete Yep. Maybe you have to have been a teenage girl on a field trip to have recognized that one immediately.
I was thinking something similar. When she got to the road, someone saw an opportunity and abducted her, maybe offering a ride back to the parking lot
Very likely. Just look at what happened to Geraldine Largay. You can think you're just going a few steps off trail and lose it forever.
My thoughts exactly, ngl to me it seems kind of obvious what happened. Idk why this guy says he thinks she tried to meet with an older boy. First off any research would tell you the field trip was 'suprise' so the students didnt know where they were going till get got there. Secondly if she was trying to go missing, this would be the last place you would do it, there was no gaurentee that the group she was would need to stop, she would just do it on the way to / home from work or school
My immediate thought on this case. She suddenly hurried ahead from her friends. Stopped to take a break and then suddenly veered off the trail. That girl had to pee. I'm guessing she stepped off the trail because she desperately had to relieve herself. Either the rest of the students had passed by the time she finished or she purposefully let them all pass because she didn't want them to guess what she'd been doing. Then without the group to follow when she left returned to the path she ended up going to whatever parking lot was scented by the dogs. She attempted to hitchhike home assuming her bus had left without her and met a bad end, possibly ending up trafficked.
My thoughts exactly. The want to continue ahead when others stopped to rest is fitting to wanting to get to a toilet facility. This would explain leaving the trail too. Sadly your hypothesis on what ultimately happened to her may be spot on.
Exactly what i thought. I went hiking with school a lot at that age and would always hold back and let all the boys get ahead before going off trail to pee...although I did usually do it with a friend on watch. I think she got back to the road and was picked up by traffickers...
The amount of people who step off the trail to pee and after that get lost or hurt is something you see so much in stories like these. I think that probability is very high. Especially if she went ahead hurriedly from her friends. No teenage girl wants her friends, esp boys, to be along for that. And getting turned around, scared she missed her friends/bus and then either walked or hitchhiked somewhere that could get her in touch with them again. A panicked teen girl, alone and scared? It's an incredibly dangerous situation to be in. Easy to take advantage of.
I think we run ahead with too big fancyful situations, when it most often just boils down to a collection of small decisions, and then irrational panicked actions.
Folk are obsessed with trafficking. What are the actual chances someone goes missing in a hike and has the exceptional bad luck to encounter one vehicle who happens to be in the trafficking business?? It's ridiculous! It's not generally how trafficking works, either.
@@teaspoonsofpeanutbutter6425 I don't think it was trafficking in the "international, professional rings of traffickers" sense, but more in the "she hitchhiked with a man who just happened to have no morals and took advantage of the random stroke of 'luck' he found and abused the circumstance". Opportunistic r*pe and then likely murder at a remote location. She was probably buried in a shallow grave on the assholes property not much longer than a day after she went missing. High odds that it was a local man who lived alone, no connection to any organized crime or anything extravagant like that. I wouldn't be shocked if this was the guys ONLY crime ever, just exploited a really convenient opportunity. It's technically trafficking since your transporting abducted people, but better described as a crime of opportunity.
"We saw her near rhe highway"
"No you didn't, I was just there"
Thats sus to me
That's particularly sus. It's possible that the ranger simply didn't think of the implications of his words. As someone who has been apart of searches its easy for the person you were looking for to walk right behind you a minute later and you not know about it.
I don't think the ranger was sus though. I do think he was just trying to narrow down the search area and was a little too confident in that he didn't see her.
I’ve done a rescue where I drive down a road looking for someone and saw no one, turned around and drove down it again. The girl was standing at the edge of the road waving me down. She said she was in the brush and heard my truck but didn’t make it to the road in time, she was scared I wouldn’t come back.
The students themselves are kinda suspicious in my opinion. But I have researched this case extensively before this episode was even made.
Even if it's not sus, it's dumb to not check on something like that even if briefly.
i’d be pissed if somewhere was named after my bald head
😂😂😂
well just out of spite the dirt patch in my yard is now called Milena Francesca's Bald
Bald head cove
they shoulda called it Chrome Dome lmao
If anything was named after me I would not care. Just as I really don’t care that nothing will be.
I liked the addition of a little icon on the map when discussing how they moved! Very small but nice addition that helps my slow mind comprehend lmao
It makes so much more sense now I can properly visualise where things are in relation to each other
💯
I have an auditory processing disorder and I LOVED this video because of that. I didn't have to repeat things a bunch of times haha
Me too. That really helps. Aiden please do that more in the future.
i feel like we really glossed over the boy who tried to break in to “see” her and then said he was gonna kill her??? not even to say that he for sure did it… but like wtf
I know it’s possible they explored all these sightings and decided they weren’t her but it really really bothers me how someone reported a crying girl on the trail and they didn’t even check the trail it was on. That’s so terrible even if it wasn’t her.
A more cynical person might wonder WHY they didn't check. A ranger did say they had driven at least a section of that road and saw nothing. What if that ranger abducted her?
I think that it's possible she stepped off trail to pee and possibly got lost, then ended up on the road-crying and disheveled. She would trust a park ranger and get into that vehicle without any issue. No one would suspect that a ranger would have been the culprit.
I'm not saying that this hypothetical scenario involved any premeditation about Trenny specifically, just a predator who saw an opportunity and took it. The girl is already missing. You're looking for her, who would suspect you? People go missing all the time. Teenage girls run away with boyfriends, as Aiden proposes.
While I don't want to accuse anyone of anything...we do know that many serial predators have worked in law enforcement and other similar capacities. A ranger would have a vehicle large enough to conceal a restrained or unconscious girl, a reason for being where they were, almost certainly the physical strength needed to subdue her. They would probably have items in the vehicle (which I believe would have been a park service truck or similar) that could be used as restraints, even if they didn't have actual rope-caution tape, elastic bandages and other medical supplies would work.
@@katejones9050 will agree with this I mean who really suspects the people that says they are helping with the search.
I did watch a video about a Park worker who killed some females bf he was caught.
@@QuinTooEpic especially in that time period. Today we know a lot more about serial killers and the minds of criminals in general than we did at the time
In the 70’s people were still hitchhiking. There were several serial killers in the US. The rangers would have the means and opportunity but I am troubled that a boy had Trinney’s jewelry and gave it to his girlfriend. The girl crying report makes me wonder why the person reporting didn’t stop to help her? I was the same age in 1976, I can imagine how she ducked into the brush to pee and got turned around after. But, how did that boy get her jewelry?
As a former teenage girl, I feel like I should comment something that you, being a former teenage boy, probably had not thought about: periods.
If the location that she was seen veering out into was accurately reported, then there might be some reasons she would go into the bush.
One primary reason being privacy. From your telling of the events it sounds like Trenny Gibson was most likely in search of someplace to relieve herself. The mention of a shortcut may or may not have been said to cover up that she had to relieve herself in the woods. That is something a teenage girl would not want others to know that she had to do. If only to fight off potential nicknames and teasing in the future.
While reliving herself, or shortly thereafter, she may have discovered that her period (i.e. her menstrual cycle) had started early. It wouldn't be the first time hiking a mountain caused a period to start early. She probably didn't have a purse or backpack with her-please, someone correct me if I'm wrong-since this was a field trip. She probably didn't have any menstrual products on hand regardless of having a bag or not due to it coming early.
Gibson could have been on a period already and her menstrual flow increased due to the change in altitude, which may have still led to potential bleed through.
Again, being a girl, I know the feel of shame and embarrassment whenever my period bleeds through my clothes. She may have been facing a similar situation.
Thus, here is one possible scenario to consider.
Trenny Gibson, who was a 16 year-old teenage girl, could have suddenly found herself on her period while in the woods. And, most likely without any feminine pads or tampons on hand, she spends several minutes thinking what to do. She may or may not have been suffering from menstrual cramps as well. If she did suddenly suffer menstrual cramps she might have been unable to move or walk for several minutes, or longer. She may or may not have fashioned a makeshift feminine pad out of something on hand.
She probably did take off her outer shirt and tied it around her waist, using it to cover anything that may have spotted through. This is something lots of girls and women do when a period comes early. I do realize the temperature that day was very cold being in the 30's, yet I can still reasonably see her doing such a thing if it kept her modesty covered. (I've been there myself as well as other women. I've had to take off my jacket and use it in such a way when it was in the 20's. Thankfully, it was in civilization, but still a teenager probably went with protecting her modesty or preventing embarrassment over keeping warm.)
Trenny Gibson may have purposefully waited until her schoolmates had past her, so she wouldn't be seen by them leaving the bush and getting back to the trail, not wishing anyone to guess what had happened. (Think of the embarrassment kind of thing.)
Gibson may have gotten turned around, or couldn't get back onto the trail, or she endivered to actually use a shortcut through the woods.
Gibson may have gone the way or path the dogs indicated. She may not have been "seen" in the public places due to simply having her outer shirt tied around her waist, changing her description slightly.
Gibson may have gone to the wrong parking lot, and wrongfully concluded that the bus had already left without her. With no access to a phone, she probably decided walking back home was her only choice. Or, walking to someplace that did have a phone where she could then call her family to come pick her up.
That is one scenario. Granted, one based entirely on conjecture, but it might explain why she went off the path.
Great point.
Very plausible and explains why a girl would be crying on the road.
My mind is stuck on one of the comments from a witness that said after she walked ahead of them, she bent over before going off into the woods.
In my mind that doesn't say period, that says diarrhea. And walking away from your female friends rather than asking one of them to walk behind you doesn't sound like she bled through her pants.
@@TheRealBethFekete
That can indicate diarrhea because cramps can happen during it. However, that doesn't necessarily rule out periods either.
Menstrual cycles affect women differently-one could say it is a spectrum of sorts. For some, periods are light in their flow with minimal discomfort or zero cramping. For some others, periods are heavy in their flow with incredible pain and extreme cramping. There are, of course, areas between the two extremes. Everyone is different.
If she had bleed through, it isn't that bizarre that she didn't ask her friends to cover for her by walking close behind her. She may not have wanted anyone to know. She might not have had anyone she trusted to ask. I have heard of family stories around that time where they were ridiculed and called our in front of their peers or class from people they thought were their friends due to menstrual spotting. From what I have gathered for that time, menstrual cycles were still very much not publicly talked about.
She may have had an accident, and her pants were soiled. That would be something someone would not want others to see or know about.
Trenny Gibson may have been having moderate to extreme cramping, as evidenced by her bending over before walking off the trail. She could have also been looking at something that had caught her curiosity. Or, the witness was mistaken, and she never bent over before going off trail.
She could have had the misfortune of having both diarrhea and a period hit at the same time.
We just don't know. We can speculate from what little we do know, and we can discuss our conjectures.
@@TheRealBethFekete yes, that’s possible but she could have been having severe cramps. Either way it would be embarrassing.
my hypothesis is that she somehow got lost, found the road, asked a driver for a ride back to the parking lot , but was abducted. this story still doesn’t make a lot of sense tho. also, i find it kinda wild that the school would allow them to go on this trail when three young people had gone missing and not found alive on that trail in the past seven years. or maybe i’m just too cautious when it comes to safety lol
Ehh back in this time they didn’t care about safety. There’s so many different stories it’s hard to know what to believe. Got a guy saying he saw a girl crying walking down the road but no girl ever found, kids saying she went off trail up ahead of them after they stopped but it was heavily dense forest and big downhill slope, so many different accounts. I just don’t understand why she would go off trail and if she didn’t go off trail it seems like they weren’t very far from the parking lot and would have found it and wouldn’t have tried cutting through some dense trees to try and take a shortcut. None of it makes any sense. I think most likely somehow she got lost, got to the road and then got kidnapped… unless there’s some deep hole she fell in somewhere so her body was never found.
@@davidbiagi2932 a plausible reason for her to go off trail, and deeper into the woods than many are anticipating, would be because she needed to pee.
Teenage girls especially would make sure to be fully out of sight of her peers than most boys or men would.
Depending on her sense of direction she could easily have misremembered the way back to the trail and got lost, and had just been missed by search parties.
This has always been my assumption - either that or the guy that was interested in her (who also had possession of jewelry she was allegedly wearing at the time of her vanishing and later gave it to his GF, who refused to give it back to the family?)
The school probably didn't even know about the other disappearances. There was no internet and if it wasn't talked about on the local news or radio recently in that schools county, there isn't really reason anyone at the school would remember the cases. Stuff was way more local back then, it was easy to not hear about things going on across your state let along nationally, unless it was like big national news.
That’s my gut feeling too!
The pup howling in the background to the siren was so adorable. Haha.
I worked at a pizza shop with bobbi back in 2016! Shes a super nice lady. This day still very much haunts her. She told me about this when we worked together and she still wonders what happened. She said it didn't make sense, and she shouldn't have been able to just disappear like that.
Isn't it impressive how many SAR folks always turn out (in all conditions) to find a poor lost soul? Always gives me hope for the human race.
It's what makes us human.
“Our behavior is different. How often have you seen a headline like this?--TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out.
Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature--a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers
I would say, it’s ever more …concerning or odd that it seems like most bodies are found by people walking their dogs. . or slightly less, hikers, hunters…and yes I am including a lot of David Paulides’ case studies , but even in news papers you’ll see “person found after area searched 4 times by SAR”.. etc..
That’s the part I don’t usually get.
And: yes, SAR workers as well as volunteers are doing a great service indeed.
@@JordanHowellMusic if you have a dog this shouldn't be odd to you at all. Dogs sniff a lot, it's how they see the world and they find weird things that we can't. On walks my dog has found multiple arrows, 3 pairs of glasses, a light fixture, several fireball shot bottles, and a lost phone. No bodies, but we don't have many missing folks here.
SAR people. Some of the best people on the planet. They put themselves in dangerous situations to try and save others. And thst goes for the SAR animals too.❤
Yes... And they in these cases did a terrible job.
Honestly your critiques of David Politis (sp?) and paranormal investigations writ large are what keep me coming back. They're honest reflections, and you rarely overcommit to an idea without solid evidence
Two names for you to look up, solmote, and trailangel4. Read their OPs.
It's spelled Paulides. I agree with you, and in fact I think Aiden is too soft on Paulides (probably because he doesn't want to piss off viewers even more than he has with his kid-glove criticism).
what bothers me a bit is the part were one of the searchers says he passed a crying girl on the road while driving but didnt think to stop and talk to her, instead carried on driving
I mean that’s not an unheard of tactic for thieves to use, having a woman walking alone by the side of the road asking for help, when u pull over a group of men jump out of the trees. It is a much better idea to keep driving and then call someone to check it out
@@miagomoski2739 But would someone have thought about that back then? Trenny went missing when hitchhiking was far more common, so would the person even know that could happen?
No, they had a report of a girl crying, probably from a random driver, and a searcher on the road said he had seen nothing
When I was 14 (in the early 2000s) I was on AOL chatting with older men. I suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts from age 9, my mom was emotionally absent due to a pain pill addiction, so I was desperate to find love and attention. I invited three different men to my house when my mom was away for work trips. Now, nothing untoward ever happened, we just hung out and watched movies or went to the mall, but I was incredibly stupid. My mom was completely clueless, as were my friends, and I'm sure if something had happened to me, no one would have guessed the truth. I was the quiet kid in school, introverted and got good grades. My mom didn't even know I was on the internet and in chat rooms. You make a really good point about the ring. I myself was thinking she was abducted but the ring really stands out.
Anyone else think she was in a rush bc she had to use the bathroom? Then maybe decided to go off trail and pee in private?
Bc thats the only reason i personally would rush ahead of friends and also go off trail during a field trip. Maybe, she got lost after that?
I was thinking the same thing.
Or maybe she hid and wanted to jump out to scare her friends. Tho, that doesn't explain her never being found
That could definitely make sense but wouldn’t explain how she was never found. If attacked by an animal after going off trail, surely someone would’ve heard her scream or they would’ve found a body or any evidence of a body
@@charissimpson235she wasn’t attacked by an animal, 5 different dogs all followed her scent down to the road before losing it. If I was in her shoes I would have walked down the middle of the road (like she did) until I either found something, or hope someone would drive by and help me. Unfortunately I think the devil was driving that road that day and we will likely never truly know what happened to her, may she rest in peace.
The problem with that is that four scent dogs followed her scent on a trail down to a road. How could she be lost if she stayed on the trail and made it to a road?
8:47 super appreciate the walking markers to show where searches are going along trails... just saying going north along xyz trail doesn't help the imagination..having visuals along trails is just perfect thank younfor the effort!❤
I have been literally waiting for you to take a look at the Trenny Gibson case. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Smokies and I love Clingman’s Dome . Trenny’s case has always stood out to me and unsettled me. If you’re interested there’s a more recent Clingman’s Dome case where in fall of 2018 a 53 year old woman name Mitzie and her 20 year old daughter were hiking Forney Ridge, which is a trail that begins in the Clingman’s Dome parking lot. It’s just shy of 2 miles of fairly moderate terrain that descends about 400 feet and leads fo Andrews Bald. The two were returning from the Bald and after hiking for about a quarter mile, with a remaining 1.6 miles to go before reaching the parking lot the daughter decided to separate from her mom and hike ahead. This was because she was a faster hiker and wanted to return to the parking lot and have time to then do the short hike to the top of the Dome tower. They agreed to meet up in the Clingman’s Dome parking lot when both were done. The daughter reached the lot, proceeded hike to the top of the tower and down again but when she returned to the parking lot her mother was nowhere to be found. It took about a week of searching to find her. When they did, she has died of hypothermia and her body was found in incredibly thick and dense vegetation down a steep creek drainage. So dense in fact that her body had to be removed via helicopter.
That's so sad. Stay together.
Some people might be critical but I love the Palides smack downs. Misinformation in cases like this can be harmful, and at least how he presents so much is less than ideal.
Also the cluster style you’re doing now is great. Makes things easier to follow
His temper tantrums also aren't helpful in convincing people that he is thorough, honest, and mentally sound.
Paulides is in the business of selling books. His videos are meant to be teasers to buy his books. I don't have any of his books but he implies that there is a lot more information about the cases he covers if you read the books. Recently he seems to have backed off of the super natural suggestions and includes more mundane possibilities. But remember mundane teasers do not sell books.
@@elonever.2.071yeah I jumped ship when he was doing the whole Bigfoot is an alien
Pallides has books to sell...and never let's the truth get in the way of a good story
@@Balrog-tf3bg
He lost a lot of credibility with me too. I have called him out on it when it was obvious that he was really stretching to make a connection with his theory.
I look at him like I do Sigmund Freud, he started the whole concept and got a lot of things wrong so it isn't going to be perfect but it allows others to build on it and hopefully someone eventually will discover some of the answers.
I would be about Trenny's age and remember having a star sapphire ring and at that time, it was only maybe 100.00. Alot in the 70's but not crazy money...alot of girls had these. Very popular.
I had a star sapphire in my high school class ring. I graduated in '05, and the ring was less than $200.
Is the one he's showing in the video the one she had? That one looks like a men's ring. I must have missed something else too, because where is the $3300 price tag coming from?
@@TheRealBethFekete I actually looked it up. There are men's rings with huge stones that might go for that now but not back then. My teen boyfriend gave it to me and It was 14 carat gold and from a jewelry store. It does make a big difference since that info just isn't correct. They were very popular at that time which I'm sure you can concur. Pretty but not as expensive as a small diamond. I feel like someone just didn't see the need of really looking into that small fact. I saw somewhere her mom was the one who told someone about it but doubt her memory's biggest issue was it's cost? Perhaps she didn't even know?
@@kaytalk9448 I was looking at women's rings in the 70s style and they're about $400, in the late 70s that would have been about $80. I'd really like a definite answer on where the ring info and price came from.
....I thought you meant a Star Sapphire power ring from the Violet Lanterns.
They were very popular, and they were cheaper at head shops.
Strange coincidence, I just walked down from clingmans dome and I'm browsing UA-cam and see this
In this heat?
You may find a clue :)
I know, I was just there alone last weekend & now this video…
@slappy8941 yea, up in the clouds it was about 62 degrees, NY the time we made it back down to pigeon forge it was 92
Weird as fuuuuuck.😳
🤣😂 ...... NOT 👌
As someone who had horrible bowel issues, i can see where shed need to get off the trail asap and tried to be sly or tried to hide that fact by making it seem like she was going to do something else. Not sure what would have happened after that, but whoo does bathroom emergencies and self consciousness make you do strange things.
My thoughts exactly. It explains her being in a hurry, and is a plausible reason for going off the trail.
I want to get a dog named J. Edgar now and makes jokes about he has to have his nose in everyone's business, lol
Now I'm picturing a bloodhound in a dress and floppy hat.
Now I'm considering renaming my dog 😂
You'd have to give it the full name of J. Edgar Woofer for full effect
@@allenc.7589daddin so hard🍻
And his nose is a hoover
About 5 years ago my wife and I couldn't get up to see Clingman's Dome because a woman had told her daughter she'd catch up in a minute 1mi up the AT from the parking lot. SAR found her body a week later in a wash. Died of exposure in October. Never underestimate the ability of your average unprepared person with no compass, no navigational skills, and no way of signaling for help to get lost in some trees and freeze to death because it got cold at night.
One thing I learned years ago is that someone could be looking straight at me and still not see what I was doing, no misdirection involved. People don't really focus on what is in front of them; they are too busy thinking their own thoughts.
There is a video where a person dressed as a bear goes through a bunch of people doing some activity that makes you focus on them and most people do not even notice the person dressed as a bear.
I am a lifelong resident of Buncombe County. Kudos on getting the pronunciation just right!
As someone else pointed out, based on the comment that she seemed in a hurry to leave, I'm inclined to believe that she wanted to go to the bathroom. Got off trail to do her business privately, that either took a while because things are like that somethimes, or she got a little lost, enough time for the whole group to pass her location.
Granted, I don't know how could she had reached the area the dogs picked up the scent without recognizing the trail she left in the first place, but the anxiety of going to the bathroom in the woods and then getting lost might have been enough for her to miss the right turn and continue past it. Then, she could have reached the road, and run into the wrong bastard- therefore being abducted. A very unfortunate series of events.
I'm inclined to believe there is a good amount of chance that someone picked her up from the road after getting lost, and that person is the reason she never turned up again.
I absolutely see not going to the first tree but a bit further in, just in the off chance someone does come along. From there, all it takes is not finding the way back to the trail.
There’s nothing wrong with being skeptical about the David. Especially when there’s sometimes evidence that appears out of nowhere. He does seem to have a habit of it. Especially when he apparently takes from other sources who don’t provide sources for certain claims.
Got your coffee for my dad for Fathers Day. It was delicious and will be buying some for myself.
I’m glad you liked it!
Coffee?????
I rest my case
Where I live, the phrase “the Y“ means a specific place where two main roads merge together on way to Show Low.
Hijacking just to confirm, as a person who grew up around this area, Aiden is 100% correct. If someone mentions 'The Y' in those mountains with no other context, the Townsend Wye swimming hole is for sure what they're talking about.
I’ve been waiting legit watched all your stuff over the past week. Can’t get enough of it. Highly considering joining your patreon would be the first time I’ve ever done that.
I’ve been doing the same, I also just joined the patreon. I joined one of the higher tiers but the lower tiers are just as good. Not as much on it recently but I’d still say it’s a good idea if you afford it and want to support them. Some great content on there too!
Thanks. Very enjoyable!
On other podcasts, I've heard that the students weren't told the destination of their field trip until the bus was leaving.
So the vengeful boy probably had no way to know Trenny would be at Clingman's dome.
Thank you for adding the little moving icons on the map! It's such a small thing, but I've always struggled to follow routes! 😂
I recently started going through your channel and already exhausted the catalog so Im hyped for something new.
Hate that you were bullied to stop doing the history in the beginning of all videos. They were absolutely fascinating especially all of the parallels between native religions and judaeo-Christian bible
Frz
So, I was just at Cligman's dome/cherokee etc.....those forests are absolutely impenetrable and the tops of the hills covered in trees so if you get lost with zero outdoors experience you will be wandering.
If she didn't leave on purpose....my guess is she left the group to go into the bushes to use the restroom. You may even mention a shortcut so you don't have to tell someone you really gotta go. Then she falls and hits her head and passes out for a while. When she comes to there's no one around and is disoriented, concussed, and wanders further into the forest getting impossibly lost further away and dies eventually. Or that same thing happens and she finds the road and is picked up by the wrong person.
Side note: the 70s was absolutely wild and like a 30 year old and high schooler was not looked upon super favorable but def not unheard of. My parent's gym coach literally got a student pregnant, got married to her, and kept his job as a teacher. Insanity back then.
Heck, our basketball coach seduced one of the cheerleaders, married her, and kept his job in 1986. So gross.
This one hits me because she and I are the same age -- her and friends' yearbook pucs look like mine. So here's my thought: I wonder if she unexpectedly got her period and, out of embarrassment, hid in the brush off trail until she could figure out what to do. If her female friends were too far ahead to ask for a pad, she might've stayed in the brush, embarrassed, afraid, and then ... got too far behind. It seems silly, but it's impossible to describe the sheer horror of an unexpected period-accident to a teenage girl in the 70s. If a bear or other animal is attracted by the scent of blood, could she have been dragged off and killed? Just my two cents on a terribly tragic situation.
I came very close to (accidentally) dying hiking from a slip on a rock in Forney Creek in 2002, just south of the Dome. It was a very simple slip that lead to a ~75' slide down the mountain and into a pool. I'm still not sure to this day how I escaped with only minor injuries.
I share this anecdote to illustrate how an experienced backpacker, doing something innocuous (like just walking along) could sustain a serious injury. Additionally, the present day park is extremely dense, and it's easy to lose sight of the trail, other people, etc, and it's unlikely that it was that different 50 years ago.
It's likely, to me at least, that she possibly sustained a fall or got lost and then died of exposure.
I literally live in Knoxville, have for years, drive past Bearden High School several times a week, and lived in East Tennessee my ENTIRE 33 years of life... never heard this one.
You literally live in Knoxville? Thats figuratively crazy!
What's the difference between literally living in Knoxville, and just living in Knoxville?
Living in Knoxville: a resident of Knoxville, TN.
Literally living in Knoxville: a resident of Knoxville, TN who gets waaaaayyyyy too excited watching true crime videos and comments without proofreading.
@@TheHaratashi There is literally a huge difference. Living in Knoxville is like ya know just being there man. Like squaresville man. Literally living in Knoxville is like being one with Knoxville, like digging it literally and it literally digging you man... literally.
Growing up, my grandpa called Clingman's Dome, Clenchman's Dome.
I've been out to Clingman's Dome Tower before. While I agree about the point that it's a tourist destination and lots of people could have seen her, it was SUPER crowded and there's alot of big cement ramps that coil up to the tower. Most of the folks are probably not from the area and paying more attention to the size of the structure. I'm sure the Rangers have a hell of a time picking someone out. Though, I went there in like 2014 and not the 70s so there's that.
My grandma called the couch 🛋️ a davenport
I'm from this area, and "the Y" was almost definitely referring to the townsend wye
That's the only Y I can think of. Great place to go swimming. Only place I've ever seen otters in the park.
Thanks for little animations and icons. I know it’s probably a bit more work but it helped me follow along better when ever the map came up. 👍🏻
omg! I saw this thumbnail like 5x on my feed and kept thinking Trenny...App Trail..I guess he's another missing 411..but I kept feeling like I needed to watch..then I remembered it's the girl Trenny! Aww so glad you're on this one! I know this one! I was just drawing a blank. I was on Namus for hours last night and you're not kidding about the missing people in the 1970's...there's so many Jane Does..stil unsolved from then.
He? 🙄
hahha
Another phenomenal video.
I would love for this channel to do a deep dive into the case of Judy Smith. Out of any case it’s the one that I genuinely can’t even come up with any plausible explanation for. She was from Massachusetts. Married. Went to Philadelphia for a business trip with her husband. She vanishes in Philly. Without a trace. 4 months later she’s found dead 600 miles away in the Pisgah National Forest of North Carolina.
So something interesting I saw bought up with Judy is that the identification of her remains was almost SOLELY based on dental records - there was never DNA done for her. Therefore it's not implausible that the remains found aren't actually hers - given the location and entirely different clothing, etc, and the fact that dental records have led to mistaken IDs in the past (Valentine Sally (Carolyn Eaton) being misidentified as Melody Cutlip comes to mind).
The only other identifiers linking the body to Judy were that she had arthritis in her knees (not uncommon for a woman in her age group) and her wedding band (which you think would be an important clue but it was a generic wedding band which was widely available).
I agree. I would love to see this channel cover the Judy Smith case. It's a bizarre one, for sure. I had no idea that the remains found in North Carolina that were supposedly hers, were not tested for DNA, to be totally sure it was Judy. I find that a bit disturbing, to be honest. At any rate, her case is very bizarre, and it would be really great to see and hear this channel do a video on that case. Good call on your part, since that is a very strange case that needs much more investigation. So many questions that still need answers.
I gotta say, the dots on the map was a big help for showing people’s movement on the Google maps. It can be a bit confusing sometimes with all the pings. Hopefully more things like this can pop up in future with the channel expansion
Watching on October 11, 2024. Thanks for the high quality production and respectful presentation. Greetings from Evergreen, Montana, USA. ❤❤❤
ngl every time I've heard of this story and how she supposedly went off the track my first thought is "oh she needed to pee"
the ring was likely from a family member or gift for christmas/ birthday. my grandmother often gifts me expensive jewelry and rings. at 16, i had friends with expensive or vintage rings and jewelry that were either previously owned by their mothers/grandmothers or gifts from them.
Yeah any number of reasonable explanations for the ring which are harmless. She could just also really want it and bought it on her own as her big savings goal as well.
But at the same time it is the type of thing an older guy with a job would get a teenage female to impress and groom her.
@@jamesknapp64 i think both are plausible explanations. i just think aidan didn’t think about the possibility of it being a gift. but yeah, it could go either way
One would think that her parents would know where the ring came from. Lots of relatively inconspicuous questions left unanswered that could possibly lead somewhere.
Another great job citing original sources and following up on avenues of investigation that might have been overlooked at the time. Keep it up Aidens!
Love your visual aids added in on your maps. I use to have to stress over rewatching some sections to understand the narrative onto the maps you display. Please keep doing this, muchly appreciated.
Visiting Tennessee right now, and despite regularly viewing your videos, the call of the void/forest still remains lmao
Thank you for showing the prices! The vast majority of sponsors or reviews don't shoe the prices. Why? Well perhaps it is because it has been statistically proven a person is more likely to buy a product of you get them in the door as it were before hitting them with the cost.
There are too many ads on top of the sponsors; and will never purchase anything suggested. In fact, it’s getting pretty close to not even bothering with YT or any social platform. I’m going dark.
The cut to sad music to correct the "mistake" at 51:33 was kinda funny
I really like the more grounded and realistic approach you've taken with this case.
One thing you failed to mention that does not support the runaway theory is the fact that the teacher did not disclose where they were going until they were on the bus. However her mother originally was going to be a chaperone but then baxked out at the last minute so she could have known where they were going and told her daughter.
Important details but I don’t think it changes much if the man she was meeting was seeing her secretly and/or following her
if she was seeing someone and wanted to run away with him he could've followed in his own vehicle, and ofc she could've also just hitched a ride from a stranger and again could've met a terrible end that way
@@hollyjollyxmas Indeed but that is an unfounded assumption. Easy to consider but zero evidence or circumstantial evidence.
@@bargainbrandmilk9858 Yes understood but again, no evidence for that.
I'd be really keen to see what you make of the Madeline McCann case, your great investigators and have an amazing team.
They connected her to a German child pred who's now dead. Or at least last I checked they said they'd found pics of her in his home.
ua-cam.com/video/Qkx_FEWwt-E/v-deo.htmlsi=9Z6Y7nATb56CN3TA
From what I've heard the class had no idea where their field trip was going until the teacher announced it when they were leaving. She would have no way to tell anyone ahead of time to meet her there to meet up with them.
Unless someone followed the bus from the school parking lot all the way to Clingmans Dome...which i believe was a 45 min trip...no one knew where this class was going that day for her to make plans to run off with someone. And of all days to plan this, a school field trip seems way harder than just sneaking out of school, after school or sneaking out of your house to run off...why do it on a school field trip and bring none of your belongings, money or anything with you if it were planned?
Also, the boy her mother shot from what i remember was a black student who was obsessed with her and broke into their house. But teachers and students all gave him an alibi that he was in school that day and never left for any significant amount of time to get to clingmans dome, harm her, hide her body, then return to the school with no one noticing he was missing from classes that day.
If she went off trail where the kids said she did why did none of the search dogs track that path? They all tracked her scent at the bottom of the path by the dome going off in another direction.
My only guess is she went into the woods, possibly to use the restroom, got turned around and lost, found her way to a road and asked someone for a ride either to the parking lot where her field trip was meeting up or to a phone to call home...but someone probably saw a young girl crying, lost, panicking, and vulnerable and took advantage of the situation. My guess it was a crime of opportunity and she was either abducted off the side of the road or trusted that person to help her and she was taken out of the area immediately and harmed unfortunately.
Same I think this is the most likely scenario of all of them.
I’m curious where you heard this? That didn’t come up in any of the documentation I read.
@@TheLoreLodge just other videos I've watched about this case have mentioned what I stated above. 🤷🏻♀️
@@AmberVivicide Yeah, that's what I had heard too. And everyone was like 'uhhh... I'm not dressed for hiking...'
Thank you so much if it weren't for these regular uploads I don't know how I'd survive in this factory
¹
Oh no the machines have found my hiding spot in the screaming closet I must try to navigate the euclidian hallway of decaying portals to escape
²
Literally me, Literally in a factory
Or you can do your job?
That Chapter and Mr.Ballen will keep you occupied.
@@jabber1990only someone who never worked a day in your life would make a comment like that.
You have done a terrific job researching the search and presented an account of the search that I have never heard the details of before. However, there is one thing not mentioned and I have no idea why. In the brush at the place Gibson was seen "turning right off the trail" dogs were brought in and found a scent that led them to a place close to the trail but from the trail you could not see it. There, a nearly empty beer can was found along with about four cigarette butts. As the search continued they did find the scent of Gibson close by the observation tower, which led to Collins Gap and to the road. Though it is not clear where in the original accounts given by trackers, Her scent was found at a place hidden from the road, where there were at least 11 cigarette butts found, being the same brand as those found just off the Andrews Bald trail. These are important to suspicions that serial killer grabbed Gibson and got her out of the park. Originally prior to 2004, researcher who was also a backpacker and who had a trail name of Lone Wolf which he also used to write his information. Believing Hilton was Gibson's abductor and murderer, he did extensive research into known locations where Hilton had been, starting with his birth, then being arrested for assault, joining the army, getting a new driver's license listing his home as being in North Carolina to the east north east of the Great Smoky Mountains. Then his trackable paperwork shows that he was in Florida and later in Georgia, and then back to North Carolina. Then he reappears in Forida.
The list continues up until the time that he murdered a woman in a National Forest. She had broken down by the side of the road, and apparently took her to his camp, murdered her and disposed of her remains by burning. The evidence that was found was sufficient to convict him of murder and sentenced to death. He is now on death row. But he was not yet on the radar when he committed three other murders, all within National Forest land and in a Georgia state park. When he was captured after murdering Meridith Emerson, instead of denying what he did he confessed and in an interview with Georgia detectives who wanted to know where her body was, he said he would take them to the body if the death penalty in Georgia was taken off the table. They also asked him many questions about why he killed (for money from ATM machines) and how he had abducted Emerson. It sounds similar to what we know about Gibson's abduction if the cigarette evidence and the tracking of her scent from where the cigarette evidence was first found, to the tower and then to the location where the other cigarette evidence is included. Emerson was hiking on a feeder trail to the Appalachian Trail when she was attacked from behind, even as other hikers were getting near. He managed to keep her quiet until after dark when he moved her to an area in the woods on a hill over the the parking lot that was also being used by other truck and RV campers. He kept her bound with a gag and waited until there was no movement in the area, then took Emerson down to the campground, put her in his white van and left the parking area, driving many miles to get away from the site of the abduction. Well, similar, yes, but Emerson was abducted and murdered in January, 2008 and the events of Gibson took place in October, 1976.
That takes us back to a period when Hilton had last left a paper trail and does not reappear until a couple of years later, in Florida. When the trail for Hilton was being prepared a former FBI profiler was interviewed for a television program concerning Hilton. I kept printed records of all of the information I found on Hilton, which also included a the web address of the source. Sadly a few years back, I entered a number of these addresses and found that they no longer exist as active sites. But to continue, the former FBI profile was commenting on the four abductions and deaths of his known victims, including a movie Hilton and a lawyer made together about a man living in the mountains of North Georgia who kidnaps young women, leaves them bound but lets them go so that he can hunt them and kill them with a rifle. The movie went straight to VHS and was available for a short time. The FBI man noted that the film certainly indicates that Hilton had thought a lot about the pros and cons of killing women in that manner,. Then later, when he kills the four people in North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, Hilton showed all the signs that he was a very organized killer and that Hilton had not suddenly arrived on the scene and started killing, that instead, he was very practiced and had done it many times before he was caught.
I spend several years researching this information when I was not working and have a lot more information about the lawyer he associated with, how Hilton had pulled some of his front teeth in order to look more frightening to potential victims, etc. I compiled all of this and sent it to the federal prosecutor how tried Hilton over the murders of the elderly couple in the national forest. I have never heard from that prosecutor and in 2017 met an FBI agent Andy wife and I became social friend with him and his wife and tree children. I did tell him about this and asked him if I could expect to hear anything from the prosecutor. He told me that I would never hear from the prosecutor because of two reasons, Feds just don't discuss things relating to cases, especially one that has not had a conclusion. The other reason was that when there is a serial killer involved who is arrested and convicted, that the Feds think that there is no reason to continue to investigate if little is know other than someone disappeared and that there is only circumstantial evidence due to the fact that a conviction has already occurred and it should be arguably unnecessary to have another trial unless another agency finds physical evidence that undoubtedly points to the murderer already in prison.
So do not think that Gibson simply met an older man and ran off with him. The problem with that theory is that it would not be revealed to anyone, not even the parents, that there was going to be a field trip that day at Bearden High School. For that older man to have followed the bus and then known where to find Gibson is really quite unlikely.
I’d heard about the cigarette butts, but they didn’t come up in any of the reports from the time, media or official.
@@TheLoreLodge They are mentioned in the news story that two local women wrote for a local newspaper and are mentioned in Dwight Carter's book but at the moment I am away from home and cannot verify when the story was published .
One thing Dwight mentioned in one of his books about tracking dogs that I found interesting because I had often seen my border collie do.He said that because blood hounds are not good at finding the source of a scent that they began to use them along with Border Collies because the latter could pick up a scent in the air and go straight to the origin. But Border Collies do not interest themselves of tracking a scent on the ground, they marked the spot on the ground brought in the blood hounds. Using that method they were able to find many more lost people, especially children.
My own Border Collie loved deer droppings and what I noticed was that she would find a scent in the air and go straight to the source without having to sniff around in other directions first. Talk about super powers, she had many. One for instance was that she could of course hear sounds I could not. We often hunted bugs in the house, with her finding them, then standing at point so I could see what was there, then I could kill it. I always had to show her what I had killed so that she could see what exactly she had pointed to and she would look very happy once I did that. So one day she came and got me to follow her and she pointed to a metal flower vase. So I looked in and there was a young green lizard, the kind that likes to show its orange pouch inflated as a mating sigh. I retrieved the lizard and did not kill it but showed it to her. She had no interest in killing it but showed me that she was concerned that I do the right thing. We went outside and I put it on a leaf from a bush so she could see it was free, and then the look of concern turned into happiness. She also did that when we were out in the garage and it turned out to be a baby possum. It was caught inside a green recycling bin and I am not kidding when I say she suddenly looked very motherly showing sympathy for the baby. So I picked it up and took it to a young tree in a thicket and made sure it fastened its fingers and toes onto the tree because as you know, they very often play dead and won't move a bit to convince you that it is dead. But this one was young and did latch onto the tree. My Border Collie came over and sat down to watch while I left. In a moment she came over and made a motion to let me know I should look again, and the baby was gone! Ive heard of Border Collies heading chicks and ducklings so I suppose that this was no different!
@@LeveretteJamesClifford1955 hang on, who said that this was in McCarter’s book? I have a copy, and I’m almost positive this story wasn’t in it.
@Dontwlook
@@LeveretteJamesClifford1955 great dog
Keep being critical! That’s why we love your work. Great job with this one, I agree with your assessment
Seems to me she had to go to the bathroom. She then wandered off the trail in order to get far enough away to not be seen by her classmates to avoid embarrassment. She probably got confused as to which way the trail was, panicked and then traveled further away from the trail. She either got hurt in her panic or died from exposure in the following days.
It seems to be a stretch that she made it to the road and then some other unfortunate event befell her.
Four separate dogs traced her to the road. That’s unlikely to be a coincidence. They also very thoroughly checked the immediate area, and she wasn’t there.
Your videos get me thru work - you guys rock.
If you ever do anything about the Appalachian trail again you should reach out to kyle hates hiking. He does alot of missing person/true crime stuff about that area, is from there, and has hiked the at. Could be some good insight
Agreed! Would love to see a collaboration
New Lore Lodge let's go! Been absolutely binging all these videos lately.
6:28 Was not prepared for the grassy knoll joke!
This is a crazy disappearance. Being close to her age makes me feel so bad that she went missing, with such a bright future. Really makes you wonder if she lived in this age, would this have happened?
I’ve heard ay least half a dozen stories about Trenny Gibson and in ALL OF THEM a semi creepy friend is mentioned. You are the first one to question the inclusion of that young man.
Makes me wonder if people are just reading Paulides and not digging into the background, which just makes me appreciate your channel the more.
I’ve been culling my subscriptions, and this one definitely makes the cut. Your research is above and beyond.
I’ll be plugging in for this entire series FOR SURE
I have just recently found your channel & The Missing Enigma as well. The thing I love about your channel & your viewers (judging by comments) is it seems most of us are levelheaded in deciding on a reasonable conclusion for these cases. Seems we’re using our shared experiences, logic, physical police records & Occam’s razor in determining outcomes here. Love this ⬆️ & love the channel!! ❤
Why should David Paulides be exempt from peer review?
David Paulides UA-cam channel and comments section give me cult vibes.
I 100% agree with that. And I like his books.
I've seen comments disappear form his channel, that offer any kind of criticism, that would 'dispell' his version of a missing person case he labels with '411'. I seen one today get deleted. Took a screenshot of it as well, and posted it to another channel that was referred to in the comment.
I have also seen him get questioned about why he doesn't get the '411' peer reviewed. It was on his twitter. He claimed if the '411' was to be peer reviewed, whoever does it, would end up owning the rights to his so-called work, which is complete, and utter BS.
@@deerichardz he said in his latest video that he’s going to be going out of town but still uploading videos, he said, “I’m going to have to turn off the comments section, but UA-cam does that on their own so it might not even be because of me, anyways…”
He’s so manipulative and controlling. A cult leader perhaps?
@@deerichardzobviously a blatant lie from Paulides. Peer review has never worked that way.
@@BEDLAMITE-5280ft.agreed. UA-cam doesn’t randomly disable a video’s comment section
According to everything I have read about Trenny Gibson, the students were not informed of the destination of the field trip until they were boarding the bus. That makes it difficult for Trenny to make arrangements for someone to meet her. This was years before every teenager had a phone glued to their hand.🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁
The whole thing about them being unaware of the field trip seems to stem from Juanita Baldwin’s Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains, and is uncorroborated with no sources listed.
You're too critical of David P.? I thought you were always respectful in the way you were correcting his work.
Everyone should be critical of his limited research skills
The 'villagers' call anyone critical of Paulides' '411', haters. And Paulides keeps on agreeing with them. It's all there in his comment section for anyone to view.
Oh no…..
not you again.
Bugger off
Says an expert
Critical of his limited investigation skills😆😆😂
Buncombe County - Buncombe is pronounced bun-come, with the 'n' being short and hard, and the last part is like 'come' not like a 'comb.' 😁 We are going to need an Appalachian English course on duo-lingo...
i’m getting “marysville” flashbacks😭
Aw, come on. Be honest. Appalachians don’t speak English😂😂
@@RoMaRobMarq this is true! Funniest mispronunciation yet that I've seen on UA-cam is Nantahala. No one from outside of the area can say it straight. All I can say is watch out for dem haints in dem hollers, Daddy done told me, less you wind up with a pump knot on your head trying to skeedaddle away from 'em. 😆
I just found your channel and am really liking the content. I have a suggestion (I looked through your past videos and did not see it) and that is the Death Valley Germans. I don't know if you do content on the west coast but it is a really interesting story.
This tripped me up because I was at Clingman's Dome last month.
I really like the way you present and edit your posts. Highly educational and entertaining. Kudos to all involved!!
Good uploads! This case and Ben hansen is really interesting
I'm from Sevierville which is very close to the Smoky Mountains and where this happened. The Y or Wye you are talking about in the video is correct. It's a popular swimming location that everyone around here knows about so it makes sense that a Park Ranger would use it to describe his location.
I've been studying this story for 20 years and honestly I think she went off trail, either due to confusion or needing to pee, and got lost. I've almost gotten lost in that area of the park myself.
A loooot of people assume they can walk into the treeline 10-20 feet (if she was holding her stomach, we can guess what she had to do, id wanna be a good distance from my friends before doing that), then turn around and they'll see the trail. You'd _think_ you couldnt miss a giant strip of woods without trees, but its surprising how quick you _cant._ When they realize they cant see it, all that has to go wrong is for them to pick the wrong direction to walk.
They panic when they realize it was the wrong way, pick a new, wronger way. By the time they realize its dire, theyre out of earshot and the trees act to muffle sounds. Then comes panicked adrenaline, exhaustion, hypothermia. And then David Paulides writes a book about you.
These videos are always so interesting, I feel like I always learn something from watching! Thanks for all your hard work and research! :)
Great job once again!! Always keeping us entertained. Throwing some PA love at ya! Carlisle
😂 the siren and the quick cut to his dog on his lap
I could never express my love for your guys’ channel enough
This part of the AT is my backyard… beautiful country.
Something nobody takes into account in this particular area, as far as people getting lost, is that there is a long abandoned logging railroad grade not far from where she went missing. If someone who isn’t necessarily accustomed to the Smokies found this railroad grade, it would probably seem like a very good option to get out of the mountains. Unfortunately it travels almost three miles south before dropping down an incline grade down to Forney Creek itself. She’s not the only person to go missing within a half a mile of said railroad grade, and having hiked the entire grade, it would be very easy for someone to get lost, find the obvious grade, and try to follow it until they couldn’t continue anymore.
Aiden, you're killin it with these videos!!
I also agree with you. She probably met up with a boyfriend (most likely an older man) and took off with him. After that..there's no telling what happened or where she ended up. Sad.
With no signs found in the woods and all the dogs following the same path, she either got lost and was subsequently abducted by a stranger or she purposely hid and met up with a guy to run away to meet whatever end. This one doesnt feel like shes still in the park.
The howl was my favorite part lol. Loved the video as always! ❤
David Politis looks like Kurt Russel when he played Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. I can no longer understand see it.
Who else is ready this upload ? Let’s gooo 💯👍🇺🇸
I think what would make this even better is if it had a link to all the sources in the video for the general public to view. not having it behind a paywall would give people a much better view of your character.
The only conclusion I am willing to make regarding Trenny's disappearance is that she seemed to walk out of the park. It may have been to meet someone down on the road or she was escorted out by someone else. The 4 or 5 dogs tracking to the same spot is the best evidence there is in this case. My question is why didn't Trenny get in touch with her family even a decade or two later if it was voluntary? I feel it didn't end well for Trenny. Was she duped and trafficked? Was she emotionally played by an abusive guy pretending to love her and sweep her away to their dream life? The initial leaving may have been voluntary but not hearing anything from her over the course of four plus decades to me implies something nefarious happened to her.
Those were the days when Heart's "Magic Man" was on the radio and nobody said wow, that's creepy, what's this girl doing living with an adult?
@@maryeckel9682
There was an unexpressed recognition that young girls had missing daddy issues and was looking for a father figure/ spouse. That was near the beginning of the era of the single mother epidemic. My second wife fell into that category. Her father died when she was eight and she had bonded with him. I was 11 years older than her and a single mother. My commitment to her made the marriage last 32 years thinking that eventually she will get over her abandonment issues but I was wrong.
Thank you so much for pointing out the Civil Air Patrols involvement in this they do so much and never get any credit for anything.
I could see the reason for her being in a hurry is that she needed to use the restroom. That could also be the reason for her leaving the trail momentarily, but I doubt she would get lost in that scenario. I have heard elsewhere that this was a surprise trip that the students were not told where they were going ahead of time? That sounds strange because kids still had to have permission slips signed by a parent for a trip like this. I was much younger than she was, but we always needed a permission slip for field trips. Anyway, maybe her "friends " tricked her into leaving the trail for some reason?
The grassy knoll JFK reference almost killed me 😅
12:40 the moving maps are very helpful. Thanks
Never been this early! Can’t wait for hear this 411
When I was a teenager I lived in a small town in upstate NY. In the middle of this small town was a patch of woods. Walking in any direction for an hour or two in these woods is going to take you to one of two roads, the high school, or an old cemetery near the outskirts of town. Even knowing this, two of my friends and I still got turned around and lost for a few hours in the woods. It was getting dark, and the other girl and I were starting to get scared. Thankfully the boy we were with kept a cool head and got us out near the high school.
My point is that even in that small patch of woods, we got lost. I can totally see how easy it would be to get lost on the freaking Appalachian Trail. I panicked and I was with others, being alone and scared would be so much worse.
And always keep an eye on your backtrail
It’s a little surreal to hear about a missing girl near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge… My family and I vacationed there sometimes, I even went there for school trips!