Inside seven mysterious missing persons cases who disappeared around notorious Big Foot haunt Shenandoah National Park

OVER 1.000 people have been reported missing in National Parks since they were established in 1916.

Several chilling missing person cases started in Shenandoah National Park - a 200,000-acre piece of Virginia land with high peaks, rushing rivers, wild waterfalls, and a surprising link to the elusive cryptid Bigfoot.

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While mainly known for its immaculate beauty, the swaths of East coast woods are also notorious for alleged Bigfoot sightings.

Though some visit to search for the legendary creature, most people come just for a casual hike.

However, this doesn't always go as planned.

One terrifying disappearance in the park involves a Shenandoah National Park Ranger who went missing in 1987.

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M. N. was known as an experienced hiker who traveled nearly all the grueling Appalachian Trail.

However, his family revealed after his disappearance that he also struggled with mental health.

A massive 200-volunteer search was launched to look for the ranger, but the only sign of him was his pack, journal, personal belongings, empty drug containers, and running shoes, ListVerse reports.

The drugs were not dangerous, but could cause hallucinations if taken together in excess.

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There were no signs in his journal that pointed to suicide ideation.

After days of no sign, the search was reduced to just 50 people.

But then the missing ranger was spotted.

A father and son reported to seeing M.N. and said he was on the trail heading south with just his socks on.

Unfortunately, the search grew cold again, even after volunteers found his backpack, boots, pants, and a stick with his initials.

His body has yet to be found.

Another terrifying story involved a 12-year-old boy named Donny Wentz who disappeared in 1992 after he was separated from his church group.

The kid, who was an inexperienced hiker, wandered around the woods for two days and survived the frigid temperatures by sleeping under leaves and eating Butterfingers.

He hiked during the day and spent the nights finding shelter and warmth below rock overhangs.

Eventually, Donny found a park ranger and told him that he was tired and worried about missing wrestling practice.

The ranger got the child into a vehicle and warmed him up before a paramedic evaluated his injuries.

After two days of surviving in the wilderness, he was in perfect health and only suffered from cuts and scrapes and very minor hypothermia.

He told the park ranger that he got lost while trying to race his friends back to the parking lot.

In 2012, another hiker disappeared, but it's unclear exactly why he went missing.

Robby Fitzgerald was on a three-mile hike on Shenandoah Mountain when he lost his cell phone and shirt.

It's believed that he may have gotten lost after returning to find his phone.

Despite a massive search of the area, his body has yet to be recovered.

He was an experienced hiker and had a trail pack inside his car that was found left at the trailhead.

Just two years later, Michael Hugh Camilletti was reported missing after he went on a hike in Stanardsville.

The Army vet's vehicle was discovered a week later with a note on the windshield.

He wrote that he was planning on hiking a North-South route in the Monongahela National Forest and would be back in four days, but he was never seen again.

Camilletti was an experienced hiker, and it's believed that he could have changed his plans mid-trip and gotten lost.

Another seasoned outdoorsman who disappeared was Earl Funk,

The Staunton resident went missing in Shenandoah in 2008 despite living in a cabin very close to the park and spending countless hours in the woods.

A massive search eventually found Funk's hat, machete, boot, tent stake, and ATV.

His body was later discovered.

It was determined that he sadly succumbed to environmental exposure amid an especially cold October.

In the fall of 2017, a different hiker named David Wayne Harting vanished just two miles from Shenandoah.

The 62-year-old had glaucoma that required medication, meaning that he was considered "endangered missing" by park officials.

Despite rangers closing park trails for an intense search, his body was never recovered.

He is still actively considered missing.

And finally, a 32-year-old Waynesboro woman named Melissa Torgenson vanished without a trace on July 1, 2016.

It wasn't until six weeks later that her sister reported her missing.

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The California native had been hiking less than five miles from Shenandoah and was never seen again.

Police believe that no foul play was involved, and have suggested that the intense temperatures could have caused heat exhaustion.