Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 25, 1994 TAG: 9408250127
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Each day that goes by without a trace of Carol Ann Smith - the Roanoke County woman who disappeared from her home in June - police worry.
Her husband, David L. Smith, says he hopes someone calls police soon with information on her whereabouts.
"If anybody runs into her, let somebody know, the police department know," he said.
Carol Ann Smith's family members in Maryland remain baffled.
"Carol is not one to leave her children," said sister Cindy Keilholtz. "It's odd that she would walk off and not make contact with her kids."
On the morning of June6, Carol Ann Smith walked away from her husband, their two children and the family's Roanoke County home. David Smith was the sole witness to the event.
He told police he saw her get into the car of an unknown man. He did not get a good description of the car. He did not get a good look at the driver.
His wife and the man drove away from the suburban neighborhood. No one has heard from Carol Ann Smith since.
Last week, Roanoke County police asked Smith if they could search his back yard with police dogs. He agreed. The next day, they dug up his patio in search of Carol Ann Smith's body. They found nothing.
Smith said it has been an ordeal.
"I don't appreciate the press becoming involved, because I have kids," he said. "I have to worry about protecting [my children]."
He will not discuss the details of the police investigation or the suspicions that led to the patio dig.
"It's a wild idea to point it at me," he said. "It even puts that much more stress on me, that anyone would think I'm capable of it."
Sgt. Paul McElvein, one of three detectives handling the case, said they are looking at Smith as the "victim," because his wife left him.
Smith said he doesn't want to talk about the difficulties between him and his wife, which were detailed in divorce papers he filed in Roanoke County Circuit Court after she disappeared.
According to those papers, Carol Ann Smith had an affair May 25-27, while Smith was away on a business trip. Smith has not said who the other man was.
But on May 28, when Carol Ann Smith spoke with her sister on the telephone, nothing about an affair was mentioned.
"She was just fine," Keilholtz said. "We talked for close to two hours."
On June 5, David Smith confronted his wife about her supposed affair. But she refused to discuss the matter, divorce papers claim.
At about 7:15 a.m. the next day, neighbors saw Carol Ann Smith puttering around her Richards Boulevard home as she often did. She was watering flowers, police said.
The couple's two children left for school. At about 8 a.m., Smith told police, he again confronted his wife. This time, Smith questioned her about a pair of boxer shorts found in the bedroom that did not belong to him.
Carol Ann Smith responded to his queries by making a telephone call. About two minutes later, she left her home, driving away in a green American-made car, police said.
Family members tried to reach Carol Ann Smith for more than a month. When they finally talked with her husband, he told them she had left.
"The main thing that bugs the whole family is that if Carol walked off like he claimed she did, then why didn't someone notify us?" Keilholtz said. "[David] told us that he was meaning to call, but he thought she would come back."
Keilholtz and another sister were the ones who initiated a missing-person complaint.
"[Carol] left on her own accord," Smith insists.
But the 37-year-old mother is not described as a woman who could easily leave her children for any length of time. She kept a careful eye on her 9-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter, say family and friends.
In her spare time, she sewed Barbie clothes that her husband often took to work. David Smith, who is the superintendent at Pulaski Correctional Unit in Dublin, would sell them to prison visitors, Keilholtz said.
The couple met more than 12 years ago, while both worked at another prison. Carol Ann Smith was a bookkeeper; David a counselor. They were married, unbeknownst to the family, in a small wedding in Bedford.
"They were the perfect family, the perfect foursome," Keilholtz said. "They always seemed happy around us."
Police continue their search for Carol Ann Smith. They say they are working on some leads, but will not discuss them. They have promised to rebuild the Smiths' patio.
David Smith said he is trying to shield his children from the constant publicity.
And Carol Ann Smith's family is struggling.
"Being up here is hard," said Keilholtz, who lives in Frederick County, Md. "I just wish we had known she was gone. I just miss her terribly. I wish I could talk with her."
If anyone has any information regarding Carol Ann Smith's disappearance, please call Roanoke County Police at 561-8036.
by CNB