Orlando police on Wednesday arrested Dale Smith Jr., the ex-fiancé of a young mother from Orlando who went missing 15 years ago, on a charge of second-degree murder in connection to her disappearance.
Michelle Parker, a 33-year-old mom of three, was last seen dropping her 3-year-old twins off at the home of Smith, the twins’ father, on Nov. 17, 2011. Neither Parker, nor her remains, have been located.
“We owe it to Michelle and her family to ensure justice is served,” Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith stated at a press conference Wednesday.
According to the Orlando Police Department, the department expanded its investigation into Parker’s disappearance over the last year, although OPD has not described what triggered the increased focus. They did say new evidence has been found in the last year, however.
The department attributes the latest development in the case, in part, to advances in technology over the last decade and a half that allowed detectives to conduct a more rigorous analysis of digital evidence collected during the initial investigations, including phone, car, computer and location data. Artificial intelligence was not involved, OPD confirmed.
Smith, early on, was reportedly considered a prime suspect in the case. He was granted custody of his and Parker’s children even so, and retained custody even after the Department of Children and Families was called in to investigate allegations of family violence at home, in the presence of children.
According to the Orlando Police Department, Smith’s arrest follows years of investigative work and thousands of hours reviewing collected evidence and forensic analysis, in collaboration with the local state attorney’s office.
Smith was interviewed multiple times over the years and provided inconsistent answers to questions, according to OPD.
“We never stopped working, we never stopped looking, and that just shows the great work of these detectives back here who always find new ways of looking at things,” Smith said Wednesday, referring to detectives standing behind him who worked on the cold case. “The things we couldn’t do 15 years ago that we can do now allowed us to close this case.”
State Attorney Monique Worrell, whose office assisted with the case, told reporters Wednesday that the second-degree murder charge could be upgraded if evidence is uncovered to support it. OPD stated that it remains committed to finding Parker’s remains “and providing additional answers to her family.”
Parker’s disappearance garnered national headlines in 2011 because she vanished on the exact air date of an episode of reality TV show The People’s Court, featuring a dispute over a $5,000 dollar engagement ring between Parker and Smith.
Parker’s mother, Yvonne Stewart, found comfort in the arrest Wednesday, speaking to reporters after OPD’s announcement.
“I was hopeful this day would come,” she told reporters, according to the Orlando Sentinel, “but never really knowing if it will and the fact that he could get away with it and not ever be arrested — that’s just a hard pill to swallow.”
