Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains

A fantastic book of mystery. I live in Knoxville Tennessee and The Great Smoky Mountains is close by, and is something that is of beauty and amazement. This place is also something of legend and stories. From Folklore to as this book details, mysteries that are unsolved. The book goes into great detail about each case, the persons, the last situations and even guesses, and speculation of what really happened. Time never stops and the mysteries forgotten by time hide away, but there are those few mysteries that are unknown and shocking today as it was then. Each one of these disappearances are in reality mind numbing, weird and just strange. Sadly, some of these cases are heart wrenching because families will never know or at least as of this writing, don't know what happened to their loved ones. A fascinating exploration of these cases of persons lost and never found in one of the most beautiful places in the world, the Great Smokey Mountains. Also one of my favorite parts of this book is the story of The Unknown Boy found frozen to death, it explores in great detail the town and persons involved that went through to care for this young man's body, and how it took 60 years to finally identify him, and also the real mystery of why it took 60 years. A fantastic read for any lover of history or unsolved mysteries.

Juanitta Baldwin, an author who has lived around the Smokies wrote a very interesting book with Ester Grubb involving some of the more well know unsolved disappearances in the Smokies. They were able to dig more deeply into some of these than others. I enjoyed the puzzlers section the best as they appeared to give all persons spoke with many chances to discuss conflicts in their stories - - showing how details told within families and handed down through generations can vary. An interesting book for anyone who enjoys history & stories of the Smokey Mountains, surrounding areas and the families who lived there.

I would say I love it if not for the fact that the book is too short. The authors claim they have researched 100 cases of disappearance-without-a-trace in the Great Smoky National Park but have opted to tell us about only 7 of them. The writing quality is not bad but the book leaves you wanting more, much more. Several of these cases deserve a crime non-fiction book all to themselves.Several cases took place before the advent of criminal profiling and looking back it's clear that they were stranger abductions. We are now aware that since Gilles de Rais and probably since time immemorial men have been taking children and females for sexual, murderous and sometimes financial gain. Especially Anglo-European white men. It seems pretty obvious that the massive natural growth in the Smokies, not to mention creek areas and natrural rocky gullies, parking lots and roads providing a quick exit out, constitute a wonderful hunting ground for men looking to snatch little white kids, the current predominant demographic of the region. White slavery goes on. Sexual perversion goes on.When the book arrived in the mail I was taken aback a bit that it is barely thicker than a pamphlet. Less than 200pp I think. But I tell you, these pages are scarier than any Steven King novel.

A very interesting little book. I wanted to read about more disappearances, and perhaps get a little bit scared. But, what the book lacked (based on my totally unfounded expectations) in breadth, it made up for in depth. Each disappearance is explored with great detail and empathy, and updates added with each new edition of the book offer insight into the nature of cold case investigations and how rural communities in the region have always worked together. Rather than just giving eerie X-Files-style details, you find out about the searches, investigations, and how the families coped after the disappearances. In a way, this book offered as much insight into the cultures of East Tennessee and western North Carolina, from 1915 until today, as it did the disappearances. I keep thinking about it.

"Unsolved Disappearances in the Great Smoky Mountains," by Juanitta Baldwin and Ester Grubb was interesting to read. I was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and visited the Great Smoky Mountains as a child with my family. Although I now live in Pennsylvania I have always found the Great Smokies majestic and mysterious.I would recommend this book to other readers. It is a short and quick read.

I have read other books by this author and found them to be not only well written and researched, but also interesting and entertaining. I was very disappointed in this book because it was none of these. The first story was good, but it went downhill after that. Half of the book was taken up by two stories that were not even unsolved disappearances. They appeared to me to be included as fillers because the author did not have enough material to complete the book. In my opinion, this book is not even close to the standards of the author's other books.

The sections in this book are quick and to the point. The subject matter is extremely interesting for amateur sleuths, Smoky Mountain historians and folklorists. Each story is presented as a mini case-file with just the facts, a to-the-point overview of how things were handled, and the outcomes. You won't have to wade through a lot of unnecessary prose because the facts are interesting on their own. It was, at least to me, a sad "read" at times. If you enjoy reading about the Smokies you will want this one for your collection. Avid readers can easily finish it in one sitting or those who like to savor one chapter at a time will find it easy to set aside for a few days but not loose one's train of thought. It appears to be self-published so there are a few typos and ill-fitting formats, thus the four-star rating, but they are easily over-looked.

It was interesting reading and made me think about the times I assumed my children were safe when we were camping or hiking.

Ok

Very mysterious disappearences indeed in them smoky mountains will get you thinking.great read great stories also check out David paulides missing 411 books they are excellent too.

Read it....,..easy read very captivating, factual. Look forward to the other volumes that. go with this series. Also informative makes he want to explore the woods more often!

Not the best…..quick read