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Autopsy: NC man died of cardiac arrest on Appalachian Trail

Contributed Photo About 4 million people visit the Appalachian Trail annually. Hundreds of thousands of visitors visit the trail's scenic locations in Tennessee and Georgia. The license plate programs will help promote and protect these special places.
Contributed Photo About 4 million people visit the Appalachian Trail annually. Hundreds of thousands of visitors visit the trail's scenic locations in Tennessee and Georgia. The license plate programs will help promote and protect these special places.

By Associated Press 1 min read

ROAN MOUNTAIN, Tenn. (AP) — Authorities in Tennessee have identified a man who went into cardiac arrest and died along the Appalachian Trail.

The Carter County Sheriff’s office identified the man as 53-year-old David Ladley Swanson. Swanson was a North Carolina resident.

A preliminary autopsy report released Tuesday shows he died of cardiac arrest.

The Bristol Herald-Courier reports Swanson’s body was found Monday afternoon in the Carver’s Gap area of the trail. The area falls along the North Carolina and Tennessee border in a remote area near Roan Mountain.