A large-scale search is underway in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where 57 rescuers are looking for a missing Illinois man whose vehicle was discovered at one of the park’s busiest visitor areas.
Marcin Bachleda-Blaszczak was last confirmed at the Sugarlands Visitor Center parking lot on Aug. 22, 2025, the National Park Service said. He was reported missing two days later, after which authorities located his vehicle still parked at the visitor center.
The search effort has since widened across Great Smoky Mountains National Park and nearby areas, with park rangers, volunteers and local agencies checking trails, backcountry terrain and surrounding locations. Crews are also using drones to help scan difficult-to-reach sections as they continue looking for Bachleda-Blaszczak, according to the NPS.
Marcin Bachleda-Blaszczak was last known to be at the Sugarlands Visitor Center parking lot on Aug. 22, according to the National Park Service. (National Park Service)
Although drones are typically banned within Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which spans parts of Tennessee and North Carolina, officials have temporarily authorized their use as part of the ongoing missing-person search.
Bachleda-Blaszczak’s family said nothing seemed unusual shortly before he disappeared.
Bachleda-Blaszczak is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall and approximately 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. (National Park Service)
“The day before, I believe, was when he had pizza with his dad, you know, chatted with him, said he might pick up a shift the next day at work,” his cousin, Corrina Auten, told CBS Chicago.
“It was very, you know, like a normal, normal conversation. There wasn’t anything strange or amiss,” she said. “The next thing we knew, he didn’t show up for work and he was missing.”
Foot bridge across the creek along the Fighting Creek Nature Trail originating at the Sugarland Visitors Center on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
Rangers first searched the area around Sugarlands before widening their search. The team grew to 47 rangers and volunteers by Saturday and 57 by Sunday, according to the NPS.
Bachleda-Blaszczak is described as 5 feet, 6 inches tall and approximately 170 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
Officials asked anyone with information or who believes they have seen Bachleda-Blaszczak to contact Great Smoky Mountains National Park dispatch at GRSM_Dispatch@nps.gov.