Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 19, 1994 TAG: 9408190096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We either were going to look silly, or we were going to find her," Sgt. Paul McElvein said of the dig. "If we looked silly, at least we resolved the issue of whether she was there."
But detectives remain stumped. Where is the 37-year-old wife and mother of two who disappeared from her Richards Boulevard home without a trace?
One friend described David and Carol Ann Smith as "the quintessential couple." Married for 11 years, they often were seen puttering around their house or playing with their two children.
David Smith was quiet, but congenial to neighbors. He commuted from their Roanoke County home to his job as superintendent of the Pulaski Correctional Unit in Dublin.
Carol Ann Smith was a protective and diligent mother who was involved in her children's school activities.
But on June 6, the couple's Norman Rockwell-like image shattered. Carol Ann Smith disappeared. The next month, David Smith filed for divorce, claiming his wife had had an affair in their home this spring.
Smith told police that his wife left their home, riding away in another man's car. He described the car as a full-size, American-made vehicle. He did not know who the driver was.
Since then, no one has seen Carol Ann Smith. No one has heard from her.
Each isolated piece of the case is not that odd, McElvein said. But string them together, and the circumstances are bewildering.
"What's strange is that she has not contacted any loved ones," McElvein said. "The whole thing has been puzzling from day one."
Police became involved after Carol Ann Smith's sisters in Maryland alerted them. David Smith did not initiate a missing-person complaint. But he has been cooperating with the police, McElvein said.
A month after his wife's disappearance, Smith filed for divorce in Roanoke County Circuit Court, claiming that his wife had committed adultery. The divorce documents allege that from May 25 to 27, when he was away on business, Carol Ann Smith had an affair in their home.
On June 5, Smith confronted his wife about the affair, but she would not discuss the issue, according to his divorce filing.
On June 6, he brought up the subject again. She told him that "he would not have to worry about her any longer," and that she had made arrangements to leave their home and was going to move out, according to the divorce papers.
She left, taking only a few items of clothing, police said. She has not made any bank transactions.
Police say they were led to the Smiths' back yard when family and neighbors became suspicious about a new patio that Smith built soon after his wife disappeared. Police asked to search the yard. Smith agreed.
Tuesday night, police began their search. They brought police dogs, often used to find people buried under rubble after an earthquake. One dog kept returning to the patio area.
That was enough for police to return at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. With a bulldozer, they broke ground, demolishing Smith's newly poured patio. The police dogs kept returning to the same area.
But after a full day of digging, police found no evidence of a body. They have promised to replace the patio, at an estimated expense of $300.
Carol Ann Smith remains a missing person.
by CNB