SyraKelly
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A small thought that hit me this weekend. When the adults first started searching for Dennis, he might have deliberately run and hid from them, thinking he was playing a funny joke on them. Then he actually did get lost and was so far away by then, they couldn't hear him. Night came and he he wandered even further away with the rain washing away his tracks.
The theory that he fell into something; a pit, cave, mine, whatever is good except...his body would never have been found. If those bones were his (and we don't have any reason to suspect they are anyone else's), how did they wind up above ground?
Foliage is deep thicket of trees, flowers and terrain that is bunched together, and he claims that when you go off the trail if you are not careful, there are some areas of foliage that actually have deep holes and caverns.
I just thought of something that wasn't considered. Now when you walk in a mountain terrain, you have to be careful walking through foliage. Snakes, especially venomous snakes, are known to hide in the foliage.
One possible scenario here is that he could have accidentally been bitten by a venomous snake hidden in the foliage.
Yes,
I have heard there are poisonous snakes in the area, and tragically, if Dennis was running along as part of a joke to get as far away from the adults as possible, he could have yelled, or cried out and not be heard. He also could have cried out and not have have been heard if a strong wind, or rushing creek drowned out his cries for help, just running or walking around, normally.
On average, how long would it take a person to die from a venomous snake bite if help is not reached and the poison is not extracted from the body?
Satch
I don't think the boy's disappearance had anything to do with him coming in contact with an animal (bear, cougar, snake, etc.). If such an encounter took place, his body would no doubt have been found in that immediate area. In addition, the sound of an attack by a large animal should have resulted in enough noise to have been heard by the family members and others who may have been closeby.
The Smokey Mountains bring many people to that location. Most are visitors there to take in the wonder of it all, but there are those who use such settings for their criminal activities. The outdoors - especially in a place as large as the Smokies - provide those who think in such ways as a better place to abduct a child than a shopping mall or a playground. I tend to think abduction when no body is found after a certain period of time. I really doubt the story of the guy who said he came across a child's skeleton years later, but was afraid to admit it because he was there doing something illegal. If he had that kind of a find, all he had to say was that he was there just enjoying the park.
I don't know if this is still the case (or was in 1969), but the park has used persons who were incarcerated in the area to perform clean-up and similar duties there. I assume such individuals were not being incarcerated for a violent offense, but it's just an example of persons of a criminal mindset being mixed into that setting.
Satch -
Thanks for your comments.
No. I don't believe the skeleton story. I think the guy that claimed it was just trying to build himself up.
The child falling into a stream or something similar is possible given the reports of such dangers in that area. I go with the abduction theory mainly because no body or clothing was ever found in all these years. Certainly, there is the question of how someone would get the child out of the area. However, a person (or persons) who chose to do something like that could have planned it in advance. This isn't to say someone targeted the Martin child ahead of time, but predators are much like sharks or other animals who seek prey. They place themselves in certain areas and wait for opportunity. Although the disappearance of Trenny Gibson over seven years later is probably a better example of abduction, it tends to show me that such criminal activity can take place in the Smokey Mountains. Such a criminal mind may also have taken something to take the body away from the area such as canvas which to others might just seem like a rolled-up tent or other camping equipment. The abductor could have remained in the vicinity for a time before going to a car or being picked up by another party.
With regards to the shoe print, it may very well have been from the Martin child's shoe since it was said to resemble the oxford-style he had on. My question would be - how common was that style then? Could many other children of that age and size have been wearing them, too? The scream heard later on may have been connected. It was heard some miles away from where the child disappeared and a few hours later, but if you consider an abductor would have left the area, that may account for the distance and time. However, the strange-looking person seen after the scream by the witness was not said to be carrying anything. To me, that might mean that if that man was involved in the abduction, he apparently had left the body behind, most likely where that scream took place. Yet, no body has ever been found.
Another article I found on-line about Dennis Martin,
http://www.nationalparkstraveler.co...cases-are-scattered-throughout-national-parks
Satch