Clinton "Preston" Smith of Baton Rouge who was missing for four days at Buffalo National River in Arkansas.
The Baton Rouge hiker who was last seen on Thursday was found alive Tuesday at Buffalo National River in Arkansas. Park spokesperson Cassie Branstetter said 67-year-old Preston Smith was found uninjured about two and a half miles from the trail he was originally hiking.
“Definitely in need of water and food at that point and time, and in very high spirits. We were extremely happy to get him out of that space and reunited with his family,” said Branstetter.
Within the 98,000 acres of Buffalo National River, Branstetter said it’s not the first time they’ve had to search for a lost hiker.
“Visitors do get turned around, they do get lost, go off trail in some cases. We’ve had a lost hiker before and we’re always extremely happy when the outcome is like this,” said Branstetter.
Branstetter said four days however is among the longest searches they’ve performed. Even though the area where he was found had already been searched, Smith kept hiking to find his way out. And when asked if he knew people were looking for him…
“I think he assumed and that folks were looking for him, he’d gotten lost he was trying to find his own way out of the space,” said Branstetter.
Smith began a six-mile hike along the Hemmed-in-Hollow trail by himself on October 27th and was located shortly after noon on Tuesday.
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