A man from the suburbs of Chicago who went missing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was found safe in a North Carolina town nearly 100 miles away from where he was reported to be last seen, authorities said on Tuesday.
Marcin Bachleda-Blaszczak of southwest suburban Lockport was found over a week after he went missing from Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Authorities in Murphy, North Carolina — a town that’s roughly a 90-mile drive from the park — said Bachleda-Blaszczak was found in the area, and local police were “working with him to help get him safely back home.”
The search for Bachleda-Blaszczak began after he was reported missing on Aug. 24. He was said to have last been seen inside the park in in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, at the Sugarlands Visitor Center. Investigators later reported they believed his last known location was the visitor center’s parking lot on Saturday, Aug. 22 after they found his abandoned vehicle.
His disappearance prompted a search involving a team of 57 park rangers and volunteers that spanned in and around the park. North Carolina Emergency Management also deployed four of the state’s Mountain Rescue Teams and an NCEM Area Coordinator on Aug. 29 to assist with this search, officials said.
Authorities with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park also shared an update that he was found and thanked those involved in the multi-day search.
“The National Park Service is grateful to everyone who assisted in the search by submitting tips and spreading the word, as well as to the many park rangers, volunteers and partner agencies who assisted with the search,” authorities with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park said.
Bachleda-Blaszczak’s family said in a statement that they are “incredibly grateful” he was found.
His family’s full statement is below:
“After more than a week of searching, Marcin’s family received the news today that we have all been praying for. The family is profoundly grateful to the National Park Service, law enforcement agencies, search-and-rescue personnel, emergency management teams, volunteers, communities and countless individuals who participated in the search for Marcin. We are also enormously grateful to the news organizations that shared Marcin’s story and helped put his face in front of people across the country. At this time, the family’s priority is Marcin and reuniting with him. We understand there will be questions regarding where Marcin was located, the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and what happens next. We ask that Marcin and his family please be given privacy at this time. For now, the family simply wants everyone who helped search, share, pray and hope with us to know: Marcin has been found. He is alive. We are incredibly grateful.”
Authorities are continuing to investigate the incident.
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