The baffling disappearance of a Pelion man has ended happily.

When Zach Hook vanished from his Pelion home in early May, his parents feared the worst may have happened to their son.

But without telling anyone, he drove 2,800 miles across the country to Washington state to meet a TV hero, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Newman.

According to Hook’s family, Zack, 31, is a hard worker who lives a normal life.

But his doctors have suggested that he’s on the autism spectrum. When Hook occasionally becomes overwhelmed with stress, he just takes to the road, this time to the Pacific Northwest.

Hook likes TV’s “Ax Men” which followed loggers and “Dark Woods Justice” which focused on law enforcement serving the Olympic Peninsula on the History and Discovery Channels.

Being a super fan, he hoped to meet some of his woodsy heroes.

His disappearance had serious consequences for his loved ones back home.

As Zach’s father, Jud Hook, put it, “This time I thought he was dead.”

“We gave him six days and we decided to report him missing,” he said.

This wasn’t the first time his son had done it.

This time he left no note and was no longer answering his cell phone.

After 2 weeks, his father said, “I had given it to God. That’s all I could do.”

“We thought he was gone this time,” said his mother Renee Gantt. “My hopes were thin that he was coming home this time.”

During previous trips out west, she said, he been able to meet the loggers featured on “Ax Men.”

11 days after Hook left his home, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call from a concerned motorist who saw someone lying on the side of the road.

Deputies learned Hook’s truck broke down on a logging road and he hitchhiked and walked to Jefferson County, determined to find the folks featured on “Dark Woods Justice.”

“He was on this mission to fulfill his dreams of being at the places and with the people that are part of these shows that he likes so much,” Jefferson County Sheriff Joe Nole said.

One of Hook’s heroes on “Dark Woods Justice” was Deputy Adam Newman who he met before deputies drove him to the airport for his flight home.

“I want to give God the glory for putting the [deputies] in his path,” Jud Hook said, after his son returned.

Editor’s note: Hook’s story appeared in the Jefferson County Ledger, confirmed by the sheriff’s office there and Capt. Adam Myrick of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department