Park visitor finds missing man in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NPS says

A man reported missing after his car was found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was located around 8:00 a.m. April 10.

A park visitor spotted Jacob Riggs, 35, in the vicinity of Tremont and "recognized that he was in need of care," according to an April 10 news release from the park.

"The visitor brought Riggs to the Incident Command Post near the Townsend Wye," the release said.

Riggs was evaluated at the command post and taken to a local hospital with minor injuries and exposure to weather, the release said.

Park rangers, volunteers and several other local organizations have been searching for Riggs since April 8, when the then-missing man's car was found near Townsend in the park. Before then, Riggs was last seen in Maynardville, Tennessee, on April 7, according to a previous news release from the park.

Previous reporting: Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers search for missing man

"The National Park Service is thankful for all of the local agencies and volunteers who participated in the search," the release said.

The Great Smokies, which sprawls across a half-million acres of rugged, forested terrain in Western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, is the most-visited national park, with 13.3 million visitors in 2023.

According to previous Citizen Times reporting, there are about 100 search and rescue operations conducted in the Smokies each year.

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Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Park visitor finds missing man in Great Smoky Mountains National Park