The 1.5km length of the trail that passes through Wythe County Sheriff Keith Dunagan's jurisdiction - about 560km southwest of Washington, DC - is extremely rural and full of hikers this time of year, authorities said.
Many began their trek in Georgia in March and would have travelled 800km by the time they reached southwestern Virginia, said Brian King, a spokesman for the Conservancy.
Dunagan's deputies were the first to encounter Jordan, several metres from the scene of the attack. The victims had reported that a man wielding a large knife, accompanied by a dog, had threatened a group of four hikers camped out on Saturday.
Jordan allegedly pursued a pair of hikers who fled north, but they eluded him. Those two reached sheriff's deputies in nearby Bland County, and reported the night-time attack, authorities said. The other two hikers fled south, but were unable to escape and Jordan alleged chased and caught up with them, authorities said.
She pretended to be dead and when (Jordan) walked away after his dog, she took off running.
Dunagan said the male victim managed to trigger an SOS signal on his phone and the mobile service provider alerted deputies to his location, just north of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. The woman - who suffered defensive wounds and was severely injured by the stabbing - escaped.
"She pretended to be dead and when (Jordan) walked away after his dog, she took off running," Dunagan said.
The woman found help in another group of hikers she encountered 9.5km away in Smyth County, Virginia, and was transported to the nearest trauma centre, the sheriff said.
The Wythe County's Sheriff's Office tactical team travelled 6.5km into the woods to locate the wounded man's SOS signal. They initially came across walkers who described a knife-wielding man known as "Sovereign" who roamed the trail with a dog.
While authorities were talking to the group, a dog ambled over to the camp. Deputies followed the animal, who led them back to Jordan, and he was taken into custody. Investigators later found a 50cm knife nearby along the trail and soon thereafter, discovered the male victim.
Jordan, who authorities think is "Sovereign," was well known to the community of hikers on the trail. Recent news reports of incidents in Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia describe a man threatening and chasing other hikers with a machete or large knife.
King, of the trail conservancy, said they had heard of the man through alerts shared between hikers and on Trek, a well-read blog that posts frequent updates about life on the Appalachian Trail.
"He had a reputation because of his belligerence with other hikers in Tennessee and Georgia," King said. "With smartphones, word gets around very quickly."
A Bristol, Tennessee, television station reported that Jordan pleaded guilty to drug and other charges after confronting hikers with a knife near the North Carolina border in late April. He was sentenced to probation, fined and released from custody.
Unicoi County, Tennessee, Sheriff Mike Hensley told local news stations at the time that Jordan had been causing problems on the trail and was a "threat" to hikers.
Homicides are rare on the Appalachian Trail, according to statistics; the last time the trail was the scene of a homicide was in 2011 when a man was found strangled in Virginia. That case remains unsolved. More than three million people hike the trail each year and most hikers take care of one another, King said.
