Kate Morris stood at the base of Georgia’s Blood Mountain, eyeing a dark hiking trail. In the early hours of Nov. 13, the 20-degree temperatures and harsh surroundings didn’t deter the avid hiker and Dallas attorney. She knew her friend, Charles Hosch, was out there somewhere.
Alongside a group of Hosch’s family and friends, Morris ran up the Byron Herbert Reece trail, a tightly packed path with towering deciduous trees, moss-covered rocks, uplifted roots, dense greenery and caves.
They wore headlamps, carried flashlights and created a chorus of footsteps and shouts they hoped reached him.
Morris wasn’t sure if Hosch could hear them. She yelled his name anyway.
Breaking News
“This is what Charles would do for any of us,” Morris, Hosch’s friend and partner at Hosch & Morris PLLC, told The Dallas Morning News. “We will not stop until we bring him home.”
A month has passed since Hosch, a Southern Methodist University law professor and Dallas attorney, went missing. After local officials suspended the initial search on Nov. 24, his family, co-workers and volunteers began their own.
Hosch, 67, had gone for a hike on part of the Appalachian Trail, a winding path that extends almost 2,200 miles through 14 states. Witnesses last saw him on the afternoon of Nov. 11 descending Blood Mountain, his daughter, Julia Hosch, said. He was wearing khaki pants, a camel-colored sweater and a dark green jacket.
On Nov. 12, Morris and her brother, with Julia Hosch and her husband, flew to Atlanta and drove to the trail. Hosch’s brother, Heyward Hosch, had already been there that day, though it was too dark to see anything.
“Like all of us in those first desperate hours, he couldn’t wait until morning — he just needed to try,” Morris said.
Besides a few days where she returned to Dallas, Morris hasn’t left Georgia. Not without Charles.
Nothing left unsaid
The last time Julia Hosch saw her father, she had dropped by her parents’ house with her dog and daughter to invite him on a walk.
“We talked about his upcoming trip. We enjoyed the baby and my dog, who was a little misbehaved,” Hosch said with a smile. “We had a really nice time.”
She said her family always takes advantage of every chance they can to say “I love you” and express how they feel, especially in difficult moments.
Charles Hosch plays guitar for his granddaughter.
Courtesy of Julia Hosch
“There are several silver linings to this situation, but in this horrible time, what I don’t stay up at night worrying about is that there’s anything left unsaid,” Hosch said. “[Dad] has a really special way of talking to you that makes you feel like you’re the only person that matters.”
Charles Hosch is a Gainesville, Ga., native. His family has lived there for seven generations and he enjoyed driving from Dallas to Georgia to hike and visit relatives.
“We know this area is really special to him because one of the things he brought was a little garden trowel to collect dirt and bring it home,” she said. “[He] and his brother collect dirt from historic sites, national parks, places that are special to them and take jars of it with them.”
She has many fond memories of her dad, ranging from a family trip to India to meet her husband’s family to him walking around downtown Dallas in full hiking gear to prepare her for a hiking trip to the Appalachian Trail.
Charles Hosch (right) on a trip with his family in India.
Courtesy of Julia Hosch
“I have so many good memories,” Julia Hosch said. “They’ve all been so special.”
‘Finest attorney, human being I have ever known’
The disappearance of Charles Hosch has devastated those who love him, his family, friends and students have told The News.
Morris describes her work partner with warmth and affection. His character is inseparable from his work ethic, she said.
“Charles has an extraordinary gift for listening — truly listening — to understand not just what people say but what they mean and what they need. He approaches every matter — and every person — with genuine care, meticulous attention to detail, and unwavering integrity,” Morris wrote in an email.
Along with Morris, Hosch is a co-founder of the Dallas law firm Hosch & Morris and previously spent 35 years at Strasburger & Price, LLP. He graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School.
Hosch began his career at Strasburger as an antitrust lawyer, where he focused on competition cases. Today, he is widely recognized as an expert in data privacy, cybersecurity and technology transactions.
“Charles became the lawyer that other lawyers called when they encountered novel issues of law — a testament to both his analytical brilliance and his ability to navigate uncharted legal territory with confidence, creativity, and good humor,” Morris said.
Charles Hosch (left) with his business partner Kate Morris (center) at an awards banquet.
Courtesy of Kate Morris
Morris first met Hosch when they were both working at Strasburger, where their partnership — and her career — bloomed.
“His work encompasses trade secret protection, data use and licensing, trademark and copyright matters, and the full spectrum of data and technology contracting,” Morris said.
Before Morris’ father died, Hosch came to the hospice facility lobby and simply sat there with her, a quiet presence of friendship.
“That is Charles: he shows up, not with grand gestures, but with the steadfast grace of someone who understands that sometimes the greatest gift we can offer another person is the dignity of our unhurried attention and our willingness to share their burden,” she said.
“I can say without reservation that Charles Hosch is the finest attorney and human being I have ever known.”
Hosch’s role at SMU: Guidance through classes, cookies
Barrett Kerr, a third-year SMU law student, took Hosch’s class in fall 2024, he told The News.
Whenever he thinks about Hosch’s class, Kerr said, he instantly thinks about cookies.
“He always showed up to class with cookies,” Kerr said. “He took the cookies very seriously and would apologize if they didn’t have flavors he knew we liked. The joy it would bring everybody to take a break in the middle of a two-hour class to eat a cookie — that’s just always a happy memory.”
Hosch made an overwhelming effort to know the names, faces and fun facts about those he taught, even though as an adjunct professor, he would only see his students once a week, Kerr said.
On the first day of class, Kerr said Hosch already knew his alma mater was the University of Kentucky and asked him about it. He was invested in his students from the beginning, he said.
“It caught me off guard that he cared so much that he took time before class started to go and learn who we were beyond just people sitting in his class,” he said. Kerr also said Hosch offered to take each student to coffee or lunch during the semester.
Kerr said he checks the search updates daily. Former and current students held a prayer gathering for Hosch the week he went missing. In his honor, they participated in his last-class tradition called “The Benediction,” in which he would give advice on how to be a good attorney and person.
Something was wrong
On Nov. 11, Morris called Hosch. The call dropped, not even going to voicemail. She called the next day. No answer.
That’s when Hosch’s wife, Beth Hosch, called Morris to ask if she had talked to him. At that moment, they both realized something was wrong.
The two worked together to locate his car and check Hosch’s credit card history. He last used his card at Neel’s Gap, a mountain gear store near Blood Mountain. They contacted the Union County sheriff’s office, which found Hosch’s car near the trailheads on Nov. 12 at about 2 p.m.
For a month, Hosch’s circle of friends and family has searched for him.
The family launched the Bring Charles Home website on Nov. 25 to post updates about their continued search — and detail what finding Hosch means to them.
Although Morris has more than 25 years of rock climbing experience, is an avid hiker and works out every day, she said the terrain of Blood Mountain is among the most challenging she has encountered.
A picture of the North Georgia terrain near Blood Mountain during the search for Charles Hosch.
Courtesy of Julia Hosch
“Roots and rocks litter the established trails, while off-trail areas feature massive boulders, caves, and dense mountain laurel thickets that cover the slopes,” Morris said. “I carry a knife to cut through thorns and a firearm because the teams have encountered bears and wild boar. The weather has been unpredictable — freezing, raining, foggy, sunny, windy, warm, then cold again — sometimes within a matter of hours.”
Julia Hosch said though Blood Mountain is considered an accessible part of the Appalachian Trail, off the trail, it’s difficult to navigate.
“Especially right now, as we’re in the middle of winter in Georgia, there’s ice, there are cliff faces,” she said. “The paths outside the main trail are not marked well, and it’s easy to lose footing. There are some very steep inclines. Those [areas] become exponentially more dangerous for folks to get through.”
Search continues
The family and search teams are now looking predominantly off the trail that Hosch had taken the day he went missing, Julia Hosch said.
Morris said the area has pushed her physical limits. She questions where Hosch is and how far he could’ve gotten.
“It’s hard to imagine how he could have traveled far in these conditions, which makes his disappearance both a complete mystery and deeply frustrating,” Morris said. “The search is exhausting — physically, mentally, emotionally — but stopping isn’t an option.”
Union County officials pledged to continue “discrete search efforts in defined areas,” after having previously suspended their search, according to a website entry from Dec. 3. Another entry detailed that “new indications” of Hosch were found on Monday and Tuesday. Searchers spoke to another witness on Wednesday.
Over 300 people from nonprofit search and rescue organizations and groups, including some who have traveled from Tennessee, Alabama and the Carolinas, have joined the search.
A group of family, friends and search and rescue volunteers geared up to search for Charles Hosch on Blood Mountain.
Courtesy of Julia Hosch
The family announced on the search website their “strongest coordinated” effort to bring Hosch home before the holidays would happen on Saturday and Sunday.
The family also started a GoFundMe, with the donations going toward over 15 organizations and individuals who are looking for Hosch. As of Thursday, over $65,000 had been raised. A SignUpGenius page is set up for those who are local to Georgia and want to lend a hand.
“With this kind of support, it is impossible to not feel hopeful about bringing dad home,” Julia Hosch said.
A prayer board dedicated to Charles Hosch and the search to bring him home.
Courtesy of Julia Hosch
Julia Hosch said the public can help with finding Hosch by simply providing words of encouragement and spreading the word about his disappearance using #BringCharlesHome.
The family is collecting anecdotes about Hosch to display on the website. Those who have stories to share can send them to julia@bringcharleshome.com. Anyone with search and rescue experience or extensive knowledge of Blood Mountain and North Georgia terrain is also asked to email julia@bringcharleshome.com.
“Charles knew Blood Mountain intimately, yet something went terribly wrong. Learn from this. Be prepared — every single time,” Morris said.