Volunteers with the Greeneville Emergency & Rescue Squad spent nearly 12 hours Monday searching about 15 miles of rugged Appalachian Trail terrain in Greene County after a reported sighting of a missing Ohio man with mental health issues. And while they located the man they were looking for, it turned out to be someone else.
The incident began around 10 AM after 911 received a call from the detective handling the case of Garrett James Lamb, who has been missing from Ohio since January. Authorities were told a woman in Hot Springs, North Carolina, had seen a man matching Lamb’s description. The man reportedly said he was heading to the Spring Mountain Shelter. That shelter is about 11 miles from Hot Springs and about a mile from Hurricane Gap Road above Paint Creek in Greene County.
Search teams entered the trail from several points. One team went in from Hurricane Gap to the shelter, then continued about four more miles to Allen Gap on the Asheville Highway when they did not find him there. Other teams started at Allen Gap and climbed toward Little Laurel Shelter near the top of Viking Mountain, while additional searchers went to Round Knob and hiked up to the Appalachian Trail toward Jerry Miller Cabin. Others began at the top of Viking Mountain and headed down the mountain.
Around 5 p.m., searchers found a man matching the description at Little Laurel Shelter. However, investigators later confirmed he was not Lamb. He was the same man who had been seen earlier in Hot Springs, but he was simply hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Searchers took a photograph of the man and sent it to the detective in Ohio, who confirmed he was not the missing man.
Squad Captain Janetha Gregory said more than 10 rescue squad volunteers and Greene County Sheriff’s Deputy Luke Fields took part in the strenuous search.
Food for the crews was donated by Little Caesars on the Asheville Highway. Search operations wrapped up around 11 p.m.
