TN TN - Teresa 'Trenny' Lynn Gibson, 16, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 8 Oct 1976

[John/Jane Doe]

Trenny Lynn Gibson – The Charley Project

 

[Kodiak]

Can anyone confirm if Trenny has DNA or not on file with NamUs? Both DN/CP currently don't mention anything. Thanks.

 

[Kodiak]

I was finally able to learn that Trenny does have a DNA file in NamUs. I came across the 1995 York Island, Florida Unidentified Jane Doe who was murdered. The Jane Doe has genetic ties to the region of South Carolina. Trenny was born in Georgia. Lived in Tennessee. I wouldn't rule out the possibilities because Jane Doe and Trenny are the same height and weight. And if Trenny was alive in 1995, she would have been in her 30s. See Link.

JANE DOE - LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

[Kodiak]

In case anyone has missed Dr. Todd Grande's assessment of Trenny's case:

The Trenny Gibson Case — Dr. Todd Grande

 

[Kodiak]

I've searched online and can't find anyone ruling out Jane Doe found in 1979 in Bahia Honda Key, FL. Same age, height close, same weight and picture looks like her. I wouldn't rule out an abduction and human trafficking.

BUMP!

I agree about 1979 Bahia Honda Jane Doe. She and Trenny still haven't been compared as possibles as they are strong contenders. I posted Trenny's NamUs listing in Jane Doe's thread too.

1979 Bahia Honda Jane Doe — NamUs #UP6251

 

[Kodiak]

Upon reading the National Park Service report of Trenny's case, on page 10 it states that on October 12, 1976, while the search continued, her younger sister Tina was very upset. About something her dad said to the press. Anyone have any idea what this was about?

 

[Kodiak]

17 NamUs JANE DOE POSSIBLES NOT YET COMPARED TO TRENNY:

 

[MissLaura]

 

[Kodiak]

Thank you, MissLaura. I just watched this recently and have been meaning to revisit this watch again. And the one done by Missing Enigma's Nick Kyle.

 

[Betty P]

Kind of a long episode, with discussion of many of the same old unsubstantiated rumors about meeting up with people in the woods along the trail, the comb and ring, etc.

The hosts do a fair job of debunking many of the rumors and speculation at the end of the podcast. Much of the rumor can be debunked by the fact that the students didn’t know where they were going for their field trip that day. It would have been impossible for any relatives, friends or strangers to follow the bus that day to kidnap or lure Trenny away. There’s also no motive for such activity. These were middle class high school kids in the pre internet 70s. They didnt have the skills or experience to concoct an elaborate scheme to attack and kill a classmate during a crowded, busy science field trip and keep it hidden from LE for 50 years.

 

[theshadow45]

Today is Trenny’s birthday.

 

[Same Old Stella]

Yesterday I watched this 2 month old podcast about Trenny Gibson and it includes some very detailed interviews with two people who have investigated her case for years. What they have found out contradicts almost everything I thought I knew about this and they say that Trenny's mom wasn't truthful about Kelvin Bowman and the night she shot him in the foot. I'd always thought the story about that didn't make sense and this podcast includes a law enforcement officer's statement about what a neighbor of the Gibson's said about seeing Kelvin on the street that night after he'd been shot, which doesn't line up with what Holly Gibson said.

The two investigators in this podcast state that Kelvin Bowman and Trenny Gibson were in a relationship and that she would leave her window open and unlocked on a particular night every week when her dad wasn't home and that Kelvin was halfway in the window when he was shot in the foot. They also say that Trenny was involved with another African American male after Kelvin and they know his identity but cannot locate him to interview him. They do not think Kelvin had anything whatsoever to do with Trenny's disappearance, nor do they think Robert Simpson did, but their interviews with Kelvin and the investigating they've done has led them to firmly believer that the Gibson family lied about a number of things, partly because they wanted to cover up their daughter's interest in African American men (either because they were racist or becuase they lived in a racist area).

They could find nothing to back up Mrs. Gibson's claim that Kelvin declared in court or anywhere else that he would kill Trenny. They also could find only Mrs. Gibson's statement that Robert went to "track a bear" and left Trenny to walk down the trail alone.

Interviews they've conducted with former classmates of Trenny's have uncovered stories of pretty extreme family dysfunction at the Gibson home. Former classmates also say there were rumors that she ran into the woods that day to escape 3-4 classmates who accosted her, took her ring from her (worth $600, which shocked me as that was a LOT in the 70s), and that she only managed to slip loose from them because Robert's coat was so big that she slithered out of it, which would explain why he later had her comb in his possession. The students had heard that she ran into the woods and got lost and presumably perished, although since several dogs tracked her to the road it's equally possible that she found her way to the road and caught a ride with the wrong kind of person. One investigator believes she purposely went missing at that point and is still alive; the other thinks she is deceased.

I found the podcast very compelling and it includes pictures and names of a number of the students who were persons of interest (all are dead). I thought you'd enjoy watching it to see what you think of it.

With all this information in mind plus the fact that she left her favorite comb with RS and gave away her expensive diamond and sapphire ring to a classmate that day, it just now occurs to me that, in her unhappiness and with her crying that day, she may have taken her life by jumping off somewhere on the dangerous Forney Trail. If so, it's no wonder she's never been found; it's said to be one of the most dense forested areas at Clingman's Dome.

 

[Kodiak]

I know such info is limited—until one day when the FBI file on Trenny's case is finally available—but does anyone know if any (or all) of the Smoky Mountain Park Rangers were questioned at the time of her disappearance?