On a warm September afternoon in 1981, 58-year-old Polly Melton was spending time in one of her favorite places on Earth: the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. She went out for an easy hike she’d done dozens of times before with a couple of friends while her husband Bob stayed back at their camper nearby. But strangely, she disappeared on the way back to the campground, and was never seen again.
Today we’re heading deep into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — to retrace the final known steps of a woman named Thelma Pauline Melton, better known as Polly.
A Familiar Trail
It was September 25th, 1981. She and Bob owned an Airstream trailer they kept at a nearby campground. The couple had been married for years. Bob was quite a bit older, and his health kept him from doing much hiking. But Polly? She loved the outdoors. The Smokies were her happy place.
That afternoon, Polly set out on a familiar route, the Deep Creek Trail, with two of her close friends. The three women expected an easy, peaceful 1.7 mile hike, which was realistic given that they’d done it many times before.
As the group made their way back toward the campground, Polly suddenly picked up her pace. Her friends said she started walking faster, moving ahead of them. Then, she disappeared over a small hill and out of sight. This isn’t super unusual when hiking in a group- someone may rush ahead because they need to use the bathroom, are hungry/thirsty, or are just over the hike and want to get it done.
So they thought nothing of it at first, assuming Polly was just heading back to camp ahead of them. But when they returned around 4:30 that afternoon, Polly wasn’t there, and her husband hadn’t seen her since they left for the hike. Her friends hiked back to where they had last seen her, but couldn’t find any trace of her or what might have happened to her.
Within just a couple of hours, Polly Melton was officially reported missing.
The Search
By 6:00 p.m., park rangers were alerted.
Search teams quickly assembled, combing the Deep Creek Trail where Polly had last been seen.
Over the next week, more than 150 people joined the search effort, including park staff, volunteers, and trained dogs.
At one point, a search dog seemed to pick up Polly’s scent near a fallen tree, as if she might have stopped to rest there. But that was the only trace found. Her scent ended abruptly, and beyond that, nothing. No clothing. No footprints. No broken branches. It was as if Polly had simply vanished into thin air.
Now, the idea of an abduction was considered early on, but quickly dismissed. Polly was a tall woman, about 5’11” and 180 pounds. The trail was busy that afternoon, and no one reported anything suspicious.
It seemed nearly impossible for someone to have taken her without being seen.
So, what happened on that hill?Where could she have gone in the span of just a few minutes?
The Woman Behind the Mystery
To understand what might have happened, we have to get a sense of who Polly was.
She was known as warm, reliable, and deeply compassionate, volunteering daily at a local senior center where she served meals to the elderly.
But on the day she disappeared, she had decided not to volunteer that morning. That was highly unusual for her.
Even stranger, the day before, Polly used the center’s phone to make a few calls. She’d volunteered there for years and had never used their phone before. Investigators tried to trace those calls but were never able to determine who she spoke to.
Could those calls have something to do with what happened the next day?
Polly also had her share of personal struggles.
Earlier that year, she’d lost her mother, a loss that hit her hard. Her pastor said she’d been grieving deeply and had shown signs of depression. He even suggested she might have been involved in an affair, though there’s no solid evidence of that.
Still, it paints a picture of a woman who might have been feeling restless. Maybe trapped. Maybe looking for a way out.
The Missing Details
When Polly disappeared, she was wearing a pink and white sleeveless blouse, tan pants, and low-cut tan shoes. She had on her diamond-studded wristwatch and her wedding ring.
But what she didn’t have is almost more telling.
She left behind her wallet, her ID, and her medications — including those for high blood pressure and nausea. She didn’t even have her car keys; Bob had those.
All she took was a pack of Virginia Slims cigarettes.
Bob also noticed something else missing after she vanished, his bottle of Valium. Polly had taken the drug in the past, though supposedly stopped by 1981. Whether she took the pills that day, or even planned to, remains a mystery.
Theories
So what could have happened?
One theory is the simplest: that Polly got lost or suffered a medical emergency. She was familiar with the trail, but it’s possible she wandered off, became disoriented, or collapsed out of sight.
But with such a massive search effort, and no trace ever found, that seems unlikely.
Another theory is that Polly chose to disappear.
In April 1982, about six months after she vanished, a check was cashed in Birmingham, Alabama written to Polly Melton. Authorities followed the lead, but it went nowhere.
If Polly truly did cash that check… it means she was alive, and she didn’t want to be found.
It’s possible she planned everything in advance: the unusual phone calls, skipping her volunteer work, quickening her pace to slip away unseen. Maybe she met someone who promised her a different life. A life away from the sadness, the grief, and the aging husband waiting back at the campsite.
Was this a woman who’d simply had enough… and decided to start over?
Or was she a victim of something darker, an accident, or even foul play that left no trace?
But in the Appalachian Mountains, stories like Polly’s tend to take on another layer, something almost supernatural.
The Smokies are said to be full of old spirits, the kind that linger between fog and forest. Locals speak of the “unseen ones” lights that dance in the distance, voices that call your name when no one’s around, and sudden silences that make the hairs on your neck stand up.
Some hikers say there are places in those woods where time seems to bend, where the air feels different, and the forest grows too still. Could Polly have wandered into one of those places?
Was it something human that took her… or something ancient, something the mountains never meant to give back?
A Vanishing Without Answers
Sadly, we may never know. Decades later, Polly Melton’s case remains one of the Smoky Mountains’ most perplexing disappearances.
No remains, no belongings, no verified sightings. Just a trail… and a question.
How does someone vanish so completely — in daylight, among friends, on a well-worn path?
Perhaps only the Smokies know.
If you’ve ever hiked the Deep Creek Trail, you know how peaceful it feels — sunlight filtering through the trees, the sound of rushing water nearby. It’s hard to imagine that same serenity masking a mystery that’s lingered for over forty years.
Maybe Polly found a new life.
Maybe she found peace in some other way.
We may never know.
Thank you for tuning into this episode of Strange Sisters.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review- it helps others find the show and keeps these stories alive.
Until next time, stay strange, and if you’re out on the trail… keep an eye on the path ahead.
Strange Sisters Podcast 
Leave a comment