One year ago, Dallas attorney and Southern Methodist University law professor Charles Hosch set out to hike a trail in the mountains of North Georgia and never came back. He was 67 years old, last seen descending the Appalachian Trail near the top of Blood Mountain, and despite repeated searches by hundreds of volunteers and professional rescuers, he has not been found.
A Disappearance That Still Has No Explanation
Hosch went missing on Nov. 11, 2025, after setting out from the Byron Herbert Reece Trail in Union County, Georgia, according to CBS News. Two witnesses reported seeing him descending the Appalachian Trail near the summit of Blood Mountain, and he has not been seen since. His car was later found at the Byron Herbert Reece Trailhead parking lot on Nov. 12, the day after he went missing, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Hosch had reportedly set out to collect soil samples from the mountain, hiking roughly three-quarters of a mile to reach the Appalachian Trail and then another mile and a half to the summit, the paper reported. Union County crews searched for about two weeks before suspending full-time operations on Nov. 24, 2025, while they waited for new leads, per the CBS News account. The early searches brought in more than 250 personnel working days that sometimes stretched 18 hours, with helicopters and drones scanning from above, the Journal-Constitution noted.
Family Says Device Trackers and Cell Providers Came Up Empty
The family has said it worked with AT&T, Apple, Google and other providers in hopes of locating Hosch through his phone, but those efforts were unsuccessful, according to a report from WGTJ Radio. The family's Bring Charles Home website, created about two weeks after he disappeared, has said authorities found no indication of foul play. A four-day search effort in March brought search teams from several states back to Blood Mountain but still did not find him, the CBS News report said.
Search dogs have since provided indications both near the lower rock shelves on the Appalachian Trail and lower on the mountain along the Freeman Trail, according to the Bring Charles Home site, though no confirmed trace of Hosch or his belongings has been reported. The family has also said that as spring foliage filled in, search conditions grew markedly more difficult. By the one-year mark, the site reported that searchers had returned to Blood Mountain as recently as Nov. 1 as the leaves began to fall again, finding no new clues but remaining, in their words, committed to finding Charles.
Tennessee Rescue Team Keeps Returning to the Mountain
According to the Dallas Morning News, the Tennessee-based Knox County Rescue team has searched the area at least 17 times since being alerted to Hosch's disappearance. Stephanie Gamble, the team's chief and a rescuer with 11 years of experience, has said her team concluded Hosch may have traveled farther down the trail than initially believed, prompting the search area to expand. Gamble has said the team is looking for any clue at all — clothing, a key fob, boots or hiking sticks.
Search efforts planned for this week were canceled after flooding in Tennessee and northern Georgia made hiking unsafe, Gamble said, according to the same report. She and Ralph Pyeatt, who is affiliated with a Virginia-based search and rescue training institute and searched the area earlier in 2026, said recovery efforts were rescheduled because of the flooding. Pyeatt, who has described the search terrain as steep and densely wooded, had planned to join Gamble's team again this time around.
Gamble has said at least seven to 12 people remain willing to search whenever needed, and that the Hosch family's continued involvement and support has encouraged her team to keep pushing for answers and closure. Hosch's daughter, Julia Hosch, has said the family plans to join the search teams directly, revisiting areas combed the previous fall while also searching new ground with additional Bluetooth-seeking technology that may help locate her father's car keys if they still emit a signal.
Texas Law Complicates the Family's Path Forward
Under Texas law, a missing person can be declared dead after seven years, per the Dallas Morning News report. A shortened process exists that still takes three years and effectively freezes a family's assets in the meantime, a measure reportedly created to prevent fraud. Kate Morris, Hosch's friend and former law partner, has said that process creates additional hardship for families already suffering. The Hosch family has declined to share details of its own legal process with the paper, citing privacy concerns.
Before he disappeared, Hosch built a long career in Texas law. He graduated from Harvard Law School, began his career as an antitrust lawyer at Strasburger & Price, and spent 35 years there focused on competition cases before co-founding the firm Hosch & Morris PLLC. He also taught classes at SMU's Dedman School of Law. Next week, he is set to posthumously receive the Morris Harrell Professionalism Award, which the State Bar of Texas describes as recognizing those who exemplify high standards of conduct and character in the legal field.
A Community Still Holding On
Hosch also taught Sunday school at University Park United Methodist Church for nearly 30 years, and the church hosted his memorial service in September, which hundreds attended. On All Saints Sunday, bells tolled in his memory at multiple North Texas churches, including at University Park United Methodist, Julia Hosch said. The family has said it plans to share appreciation for first responders through the Bring Charles Home social channels and website.
Julia Hosch has said search teams returned to the trail this fall after a summer spent strategizing and consulting maps, and that the family intends to keep promoting hiking safety through her father's story. A year after he vanished on Blood Mountain, Hosch's family and the community that knew him continue honoring his memory even as the search for him goes on.
