Mid-afternoon on July 8, 1999 Amanda Smith, 17, disappeared while on a tubing trip on the Little River in Smokey Mountain National Park, TN. Her high school friends found the tube, could not locate her, and called park rangers. Her body was discovered 15 minutes later, her feet and legs pinned between rocks. It took Rangers 2 1/2 hours to free her.
SOURCE: NPS Morning Report via Aida Parkinson
ANALYSIS: (Walbridge) Foot entrapments are a frequent killer of novices, and this danger should be covered in all pre-trip briefings.
Amanda Smith,17, drowned in a tubing accident on the Little River in Tennessee's Great Smokey Mountain National Park on July 8. Rangers worked for hours to release her from a very severe foot and leg entrapment.