After four days of exhaustive searching by law enforcement and hundreds of volunteers, the Blount County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that the search for a missing Happy Valley man will be scaled down and backcountry search operations will be halted.

The decision was made at about 4 p.m. Friday, said Blount County Sheriff's Office Assistant Chief Jeff French. The move came after four days of hard searching in areas of Happy Valley around the area 51-year-old Michael Hearon's ATV was found. Hearon was last seen by a neighbor on the ATV Saturday and has not been heard from since. The vehicle was found abandoned about a mile from his Bell Branch Road residence.

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Search for missing Blount man scaled back

By Mark Boxley
of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: August 30. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: August 30. 2008 12:12AM

After four days of exhaustive searching by law enforcement and hundreds of volunteers, the search for a missing Happy Valley man will be scaled down and backcountry search operations will be halted.

The decision was made at about 4 p.m. Friday, said Blount County Sheriff's Office Assistant Chief Jeff French.

Michael Hearon, 51, was last seen by a neighbor on his ATV Saturday and has not been heard from since. The vehicle was found abandoned about a mile from his Bell Branch Road residence in Happy Valley.

His family reported him missing Monday evening and law enforcement officials searched his 100-acre property on Tuesday. The search was expanded to adjacent properties during the following days as volunteers joined in the operation.

Authorities have said that no clues or evidence, beyond the abandoned ATV, have been found that would help explain his disappearance.

Hundreds of volunteers and officials covered about 450 acres -- with some areas being searched more than once -- since Tuesday, French said.

Tactics included an aerial search Friday with assistance from the Knox County Sheriff's Office helicopter, cadaver dogs from North Carolina, sheriff's deputies on horseback, private citizens with horses, ATVs and grid searches of the backcountry on foot. About 50 miles of hiking trails were also searched, French said.

According to Blount County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Marian O'Briant, the investigation into Hearon's disappearance will continue and only the large-scale search operations will be scaled back. No new evidence was found Friday that might explain Hearon's disappearance, she said.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park Public Affairs Officer Bob Miller said Friday that rangers will also no longer be participating in large-scale searches -- as they were working under the umbrella of the sheriff's office to assist in the search and because there are "no indications that (Hearon) is in the Park," Miller said.

No indication was found during the four-day search as to what may have happened to Hearon and law enforcement officials have said there is no reason to think foul play was involved, but no evidence is available to rule it out, either.

Anyone with information that could assist in locating Hearon should immediately call the Blount County Sheriff's Office 24-hour hot line at 273-5200.