Tennessee
Tennessee hiker drowns trying to save woman who fell into creek; rescuers recover both bodies
A 23-year-old woman and 20-year-old man drowned near a hiking trail in Tennessee on Sunday after the woman fell into a creek and the man jumped in to try and save her, authorities said.
Police responded around 7:13 p.m. to a 911 call about the pair going underwater near Rainbow Lake Trail in Signal Mountain, the Signal Mountain Police Department said.
First responders hiked about a mile down the trail when they encountered a woman waiting for them to arrive.
The woman told officials that she was with a group of three to four people who hiked on the trail to a large creek.
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The man and woman were part of a small group hiking the Rainbow Lake Trail. (Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security)
One woman tried to cross the creek but fell into a “drop off” and went underwater, according to authorities. A man from their group then jumped in after her, but the pair never resurfaced.
Police and fire personnel jumped into the water to find and rescue both victims, the department said.
The woman fell into a “drop off” and went underwater, police said. The man jumped in after her but also disappeared beneath the water. (Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security)
Rescuers found the woman in the water and pulled her onto land. They performed life-saving measures on the woman, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials requested additional assistance while searching for the missing man. His body was eventually recovered from the water.
CALIFORNIA MAN FALLS 300 FEET TO DEATH WHILE HIKING WITH WIFE ALONG OREGON COAST
First responders recovered the bodies of both victims. (Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security)
Police later identified the woman as 23-year-old Greffania Merilus, of Cohutta, Gerogia, and the man as 20-year-old Gullson Elve, of Birchwood, Tennessee, News Channel 9 reported.
Officials told the station that the pair were “really close friends.”
Following the two deaths, Signal Mountain Town Council Member Susannah Murdock told Local 3 News that she is calling for additional signage along the trail to warn hikers about potential dangers in the area.
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“We got this pretty sign up here that says Rainbow Lake, and it’s a beautiful place down there, but they don’t know the terrain is rocky and bumpy and can be steep in places,” Murdock said. “When we’ve had a lot of rain, there’s water that flows down there pretty rapidly.”
Tennessee
Tennessee’s heat wave flirting with records
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – We’re experiencing our hottest weather since summer 2025.
The hottest weather of the year is having a major impact on Middle Tennesseans. Temperatures have soared well above average during the afternoon and remained unusually high at night for several days. That’s caused thousands across Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky to temporarily change the way they go about everyday life. The heat has been so significant that temperatures have actually been in record territory.
For example, this past Sunday, Nashville nearly tied the highest minimum temperature ever for the date — 80° set in 1936. Nashville’s low on Sunday was 79.
As for high temperatures, while it was easily the hottest day of the year on Tuesday, Nashville missed that day’s record by nine degrees.
We’ll be closer on Wednesday, missing it by just six degrees.
There’s an even closer approach in line for Thursday. Our forecast for Nashville is 98°. The record high temperature is 101.
Cooler weather will eventually take over. By early next week, we expect highs to return to more seasonable levels — the low 90s.
For life-saving weather alerts, customized messages on conditions and forecasts, and videos detailing upcoming weather events, download the WSMV 4 First Alert Weather app for iPhone or Android. Have weather pictures or videos? Share them here.
Tennessee
Former Tennessee baseball pitcher Garrett Stallings called up by Milwaukee Brewers
Former Tennessee baseball pitcher Garrett Stallings was called up by the Milwaukee Brewers on June 30.
Stallings, 28, likely will make his major league debut against the Cincinnati Reds on June 30 in the second game of the Brewers’ four-game homestand.
Stallings played at Tennessee from 2017 to 2019 in the early years of Tony Vitello’s stint at the Vols’ head coach. He earned a starting role as a freshman and became the ace by his junior season.
In 2019, the Los Angeles Angels selected Stallings in the fifth round of the MLB draft. He bounced around in the minors before landing firmly in Triple-A with the Norfolk Tides, and later the Brewers’ affiliate Nashville Sounds, in 2024.
Stallings posted a 3-3 record with the Sounds in 2026 with a 3.45 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 62⅔ innings.
He will be the 54th player in Tennessee history to reach the major leagues and the 12th since 2020. He will join left-hander Garrett Crochet (2020); right-hander Ben Joyce (2023); infielder Andre Lipcius (2023); IF Trey Lipscomb (2024); outfielder Jordan Beck (2024); RHP Seth Halvorsen (2024); RHP Chase Dollander (2025); RHP Blade Tidwell (2025); INF Christian Moore (2025); OF Drew Gilbert (2025); and RHP Chad Dallas (2026).
Dallas made his debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on June 4.
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
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Tennessee
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