October 28, 2021. The body of an Avery County man who has been missing since October 6 was recovered in adjoining Mitchell County fifteen days later (October 21). Michael Shawn Hartley’s deceased body was discovered in Beaver Creek, just below the Town of Spruce Pine watershed and only a few miles from where Hartley was raised in Southern Avery County. Mitchell County Chief Deputy Josh Sparks said that medical reports performed on Hartley’s body show that no foul play was involved in his death and also that there was no trauma or wounds to his body. By Tim Gardner

Read more