UPDATE: Authorities say they have found a missing woman dead near her home.
Alicia Ranee Martin has been missing since Thursday morning. The Sevier County Sheriff's Department says they do not suspect foul play. The Sevier County Rescue Squad search team found the body at 11:30 a.m. Saturday just 200 yards from her home.
Investigators have ordered an autopsy with the medical examiner's office. Investigators say all indications show Martin likely committed suicide. The Sheriff's Department says the investigation is still open pending the autopsy results.
Original Story:
Deputies with the Sevier County Sheriff's Department are asking for help in locating a missing Seymour woman.
According to a news release from the department, 26-year-old Alicia Ranee Martin was last seen at her home Thursday morning.
The woman's father, Dave Martin, says she suffers from bi-polar disorder.
He says she disappeared Thursday morning, leaving her purse on the trunk of her car.
Deputies conducted an intensive search Friday, calling in volunteer foot patrols, search and rescue dogs, and a helicopter.
Martin is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, 110 pounds with black hair and blue eyes. She might be wearing a black Krystal's uniform and black tennis shoes.
Captain Jeff McCarter with the sheriff's office says since they can never anticipate which resource will yield results, it's important to spare no effort.
"You never know which resource is gonna work for you, so you got to use all of them," says McCarter. "One time a dog may find, the next time it may be a helicopter. The next time it may be a man tracker finds them."
Friday afternoon, one of the search dogs tracked Martin's scent to a neighborhood off Boyds Creek Highway.
Martin says he's thankful and impressed with the search.
"It's been a fabulous effort, it's just been amazing the resources they've brought to bear to look for my daughter," says Martin, noting the rugged terrain searchers are combing through.
It's the fourth missing persons case for the Sevier County Sheriff's Office in the past six weeks.
Anyone with information regarding Martin's whereabouts is asked to call the Sevier County Sheriff's Office at 865-453-4668.
Disclaimer: Normally WBIR does not usually report suicides. Because of the extensive public search for Martin who was missing since Thursday, WBIR made an exception in this case.