North Carolina

Ohio hiker died of hypothermia at Great Smoky Mountains park

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A Great Smoky Mountains National Park official, citing an autopsy report, says hypothermia killed an Ohio woman whose body was found at the park last year.

Park spokeswoman Dana Soehn tells the Asheville Citizen-Times that foul play isn't suspected in the death of 53-year-old Mitzie Sue "Susan" Clements. Clements went missing while hiking with her daughter in September.

Her body was found a week later in "incredibly thick" vegetation near the Appalachian Trail on the North Carolina-Tennessee border, about two miles from the Clingmans Dome parking area. The search for Clements involved nearly 200 trained searchers who combed about 500 miles of land.

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