Cummins Falls Rescue: Bodies Of Missing Women Recovered

JACKSON COUNTY, TN — The bodies of two missing women — one who was apparetly looking for the other — have been recovered near Cummins Falls.

Lisa Michelle Hillian, a real estate agent and mother of a 9-year-old from Sale Creek in northern Hamilton County, was an unexpected discovery as the searchers who set out Thursday were looking for the body of 73-year-old Peggy McDaniel of Paris who went missing when the waters near the falls in the popular state park rose three feet in three minutes Wednesday afternoon, trapping dozens. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

Hillian's family said she had set out to help in the search but was not a part of the official patrols. At a Friday press conference, McDaniel's family said she had been on a day trip with her son and his children. They were holding hands when they were hit by debris. One of her grandsons was also swept downstream but was among those rescued.

McDaniel's body was spotted by a helicopter pilot and recovered Friday afternoon at Blackburn Fork State Scenic River, some five river miles downstream of Cummins Falls.

Shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday, waters at the creek began to rise. Around 40 people were trapped in the area of the 75-foot waterfall: 27 underneath the falls itself, three on an island in the creek and 10 more on the side of the gorge.

Foot patrols, kayakers, drones and other aircraft searched up to seven miles downstream of the falls Thursday and continued Friday, though higher water was making extensive searches difficult. It is still unclear to officials if Hillian was part of the group trapped Wednesday.

Parks and law enforcement officials vowed to continue searching until the body of the 73-year-old woman is found.

Image via Tennessee State Parks