Dean Anthony Yelton, 48, from Marion, North Carolina, was dropped off on Old NC 105 near Jonas Ridge and Linville Falls on July 31, 2020 for a planned camping trip. He was reported missing to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office on August 3, 2020 after he failed to make contact to arrange a ride home.

Yelton was described as a white male, 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 200 pounds, with blue eyes and brown buzzed hair and a full beard. He was reported to have carried camping and hiking gear including a gray tarp, a chainsaw, a sack of potatoes, two gallons of water, a gallon of Kool-Aid, a hiking backpack with an orange external metal frame, a small child’s PJ Mask backpack, cash, and a 9mm pistol. Searches were conducted in the rugged terrain near where he was left, but further details or publicly shared leads have not been widely reported.

What did anyone in the Jonas Ridge or Linville Falls area see around the end of July 2020 that might shed light on Dean’s whereabouts?