The boy who vanished in the mountains, 1969

The boy who vanished in the mountains, 1969

Dennis Lloyd Martin was a six-year-old boy who disappeared in the Smoky Mountains with his family on a yearly camping trip in June of 1969.

The Martins met with family friends on the second day of their trip and made their way to Spence Field, a spot known for its good views. 

Dennis, his brother William, and 2 children from the family they met on the second day decided to run ahead of the adults and hide in the woods around Spence field to scare the adults when they arrived. The children had left the supervision of the adults for 5 minutes. The 2 kids from the family friends and William hid in one location, but Dennis hid nearby because the red shirt Dennis wore would have given away their location. Dennis was last seen running behind a tree along the forest boundary. 

At 16:30, when the adults arrived, the kids jumped out of their hiding spots. When the adults asked where Dennis was, no one knew. Dennis's father, Bill Martin, even ran 2 miles down the trail but could not find him.

After a search, the park rangers were called. Once they analysed the situation, the police, FBI, and the army even got involved with a search party of 1,400 people. Despite these great efforts that lasted for over 2 months, neither Dennis nor his remains have been found. There are several theories of how Dennis could have disappeared. Here are the main theories:

1. It is possible that a bear ambushed Dennis suddenly and dragged him away.

2. It is possible Dennis wandered off, and he died due to exposure. A thunderstorm occurred the night he went missing, and the FBI theorised that his body might have been washed into a ravine.

3. A family hiking in the same park heard an "enormous and sickening scream" from a child and saw an unkept stranger hurrying away from the scene and driving away in a white car. Many theorise that Dennis was kidnapped by a child predator living off the grid. However, this occurred 7 miles away and just after an hour (17:30) from where Dennis went missing. 

The image above shows Dennis and the location where he was last seen.

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