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Keeli Parkey/The Beacon

UCSD Lieutenant Jason Tilson, Captain Rick Butler, and family friend Marty Luttrell begin their search for the lost hikers.

Missing couple located by rafters

By Keeli Parkey & Betty B. Chandler

May 14, 2008

A couple from Gray, Tennessee, has been safely returned to familiar surroundings, according to local authorities.

David and Cheryl Merriken dropped their children off at school Thursday morning, and headed to south Unicoi County to hike in the vicinity of the Appalachian Trail, Lost Cove, and the Nolichucky River.

They told their children that they would be home by the time the children were out of school that same day. When the children returned home from school, the parents still had not returned. The children contacted friends and relatives who notified local authorities. A search for the couple soon began.

“We got a call late Thursday night that they could possibly be over here in our county. Our officers began to search for them then,” Sheriff Kent Harris said. “The next morning when the couple had not been found, I told the officers to broaden out the search area.”

Sheriff Harris sent numerous members of his department to many areas around the county and in North Carolina. Unaka Mountain Search and Rescue as well as family and friends of the Merrikens met at the UCSD office to coordinate the search parties on Friday morning. The sheriff’s department also consulted with hostel operators in the area to determine whether or not the couple had approached any of their operations seeking food or shelter.

Unaka Mountain Search and Rescue also established a command post at Granny Lewis Creek on Spivey Mountain.

UCSD Deputy Kelly Blevins and Marty Luttrell, a friend of the Merrikens, drove across the North Carolina state line to the top of Spivey Mountain to an area called, “Flat Top.” There they located the Merriken’s vehicle near Joe Lewis Fields around noon on Friday. No signs of foul play were found around the car, so authorities assumed that the couple was either lost or that one of them had been injured and they were waiting for rescue to find them.

Before going into the woods to search for his friends, Luttrell said that the Merrikens were “avid hikers”, but that Dave had a bad knee that could possibly been hindering his progress. “If that [knee] goes out he could have a hard time getting back,” Luttrell added.

Search teams were dispatched from the car’s location, as well as from Chestoa at the Nolichucky River going back toward Lost Cove. UCSD Major Mike Hensley, who is extremely familiar with the area, dispatched teams to the numerous trails in the vicinity.

Search crews remained out until the Merrikens were found along the Nolichucky River by a group of rafters at the Nolichucky Gorge Friday evening.

The couple was uninjured when they were found. They were reunited with their children at Jones Branch.

“Basically, they got off the trail, which is easy to do, and got lost in the woods,” Sheriff Harris said. “They spent the night in the woods and the next morning started walking again. They walked down to the river and were spotted by rafters.”