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A 45-year-old Knoxville woman who went missing Friday after going into Little River near Metcalf Bottoms in the Smokies was found this morning by a volunteer directing traffic at the Townsend Y.

According to Bob Miller, public information officer with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Carla Manzolini, 45, Knoxville, was found at about 10:45 a.m.

Manzolini went missing at about 3:30 p.m. Friday when a park ranger saw her go into the rain-swollen Little River. The ranger threw her a flotation device, which she refused, Miller said.

She apparently got out of the river on the far bank and hiked about half a mile, cross-country and barefoot, until she found the Round Top trail, which led her back to the Townsend Y. It appears Manzolini spent the night in the woods, Miller said.

She was not very communicative and rangers are not yet sure why she went into the river or what she was doing in the park in the first place, Miller said. Her car was located by rangers in the Metcalf Bottoms picnic area Friday night and her purse and ID were still in the car, he said.

Despite her ordeal, Manzolini was “physically fine” and was taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to Blount Memorial Hospital as a precaution.

Rangers and other emergency personnel searched for Manzolini until dark Friday and two rangers stayed up through the night with flood lights at the Sinks, in case she was still in the water, Miller said. Personnel resumed the search this morning at 6 a.m.
The situation could have turned out very badly, Miller said, and finding Manzolini was “the best outcome we could hope for.”