(This story updated at 8am 1/17/24)
Emergency crews recovered the body of a missing hiker at Fall Creek Falls State Park. According to the Piney Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page, around 3pm Tuesday (1/16/24) the Department along with the Fall Creek Falls Fire Department, Fall Creek Falls State Park, and Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office were all dispatched to a lost hiker near the north entrance of the park.
Rescuers found tracks in the snow leading to the bluff line overlooking Cane Creek gorge. Due to the steep terrain, deep snow and temperatures as low as -13 degrees Fahrenheit, a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter equipped with a thermal imaging camera was deployed to located the hiker, whose body was found down a 700-foot bluff.
Rescue personnel from Dunlap Fire Department, Chattanooga Cave & Cliff, Putnam County Rescue Squad, White County Rescue Squad, Warren County Rescue Squad, Sequatchie County EMA, and rangers from many state parks across Tennessee responded to set up rope systems.
The body was brought to the top and carried out to an ambulance. The last rescuer made it to the top of the bluff around 8:00 am Wednesday. Piney Volunteer Fire Department reports that one rescuer was treated for mild hypothermia but was expected to be released from the hospital on Wednesday.