That night, temperatures reached a low of 50 degrees Fahrenheit and rained 2.5 inches causing creeks and rivers to overflow and gush with water. High winds on Spence Field made hearing a small child calling for help nearly impossible. Despite thousands of volunteer searchers, helicopters, sniffer dogs, and 50 years of time, Dennis Martin remains lost in the Great Smokey Mountains.
The result of search efforts to find Dennis pushed park officials to review how young Dennis remained lost given the resources used to find him immediately after his disappearance. Since 1969, the park’s used Martin’s disappearance as a guide and a group formed in Utah in 1972, National Association for Search and Rescue (NASAR), has used Dennis Martin’s disappearance as a guideline for its internationally recognized organization.