GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Authorities say rescuers have found a 58-year-old man who has dementia and disappeared in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this week.
Citing a National Park Service statement, news outlets report Kevin Mark Lynch was alert and responsive when he was found in North Carolina on Wednesday.
The statement says a hat and sunglasses were found that afternoon just southeast of where Lynch was last seen Saturday. It says a secondary sweep of the area uncovered what appeared to be fresh footprints that led to Lynch, who was responding to searcher yells.
The New Jersey man didn’t have camping equipment when he was last seen Saturday near the Cataloochee Divide Trail. It’s unclear if he had food or water. More than 200 hundred people searched about 5 square miles (12.9 square kilometers) for him.