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Chapter 1: What happened to Judy Smith during her trip to Philadelphia?
Hi park enthusiasts, it's Delia. If you listen to Park Predators, you already know that sometimes the most beautiful places can hide the darkest secrets. But what happens when the danger isn't miles from civilization? It's in your community, and sometimes even in your own backyard.
On Crime Junkie, hosts Ashley and Britt dive into real cases every week, from missing persons to unsolved murders, breaking down what we know, what we don't, and the details that still don't sit right. If you care about the stories behind the headlines and the victims at the center of them, you'll want to check out Crime Junkie. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, park enthusiasts.
I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra, and the case I'm going to share with you today takes place in vastly different geographical areas of the United States. It starts in the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but culminates more than 600 miles away in North Carolina's Pisgah National Forest. Pisgah, in my opinion, as an NC native, is a hiker and outdoor recreationalist paradise.
If you like mountains, it's got them. Waterfalls and rivers, it's got those too. Tons of acreage to roam, check. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Forest is more than 500,000 acres in size. And it was actually one of the first tracts of land bought under legislation that was pivotal in the formation of the National Forest Service in the U.S.,
The first school of forestry in the country was established there too. But as is the case with so many beautiful natural areas I talk about on this show, Pisgah National Forest also has a darker side. Case in point, it became the end road for one of the most bizarre missing persons investigations I've ever researched.
And if my instincts are right, you'll likely leave today's episode thinking the exact same thing. This is Park Predators.
Thank you.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 10th, 1997, a man named Jeff Smith walked into his hotel room at the Doubletree in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, expecting to see his wife, Judy, waiting for him. But she wasn't there.
He'd been busy all day attending a pharmaceutical conference, which he was a panel moderator for, and though I'm not sure exactly what his initial reaction was when he realized his wife wasn't in their room, I have to imagine he was surprised. Same as I would be if I came back from a work function and didn't see my spouse where I assumed they'd be.
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Chapter 2: What were the initial steps taken when Judy was reported missing?
Now, even though Jeff was promised that from the beginning law enforcement had put Judy's case information into the National Crime Information Center database, also known by the acronym NCIC, that wasn't the case.
It had actually taken a little over a month before that was done, which seemed like a huge oversight in Jeff's opinion because NCIC was the hub by which other law enforcement agencies in the country could cross-reference case information.
Jeff told the press that Philadelphia police's failure to upload Judy's information into NCIC right away meant that several weeks had gone by without other agencies knowing to be on the lookout for her.
His big concern was if his wife had been found somewhere in a state of confusion outside of Philly in the first month or so of the investigation, no one would have made the connection because she wasn't listed. At the three-month mark, the case remained at a standstill, and Jeff, understandably, was growing increasingly frustrated with the police's investigation.
He wanted the FBI to get involved, but Philly PD declined to ask the feds for assistance because, according to them, there was no evidence that a crime had occurred. By that point, authorities had ruled out a lot of tips and reported sightings of Judy.
But one detective told the Associated Press that the department still wanted to re-interview witnesses from the Smiths' hotel, as well as Independence Hall. They wanted to figure out if they could learn anything new. At the time Judy vanished, she didn't have her passport with her, so investigators didn't think she'd traveled outside of the country.
Jeff told the Associated Press that he and Judy's kids remained hopeful someone would come forward with information that would provide more pieces to the puzzle. He expressed, quote, Her daughter and her son and I are very worried about her, and we just want to be reunited with her. End quote.
The more time passed though, some people involved in the case, including law enforcement, resigned themselves to the theory that Judy had simply decided to walk away from her life and start a new one. There was just one problem with that theory. Her friends and her kids told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Judy would never just cut off communication with them.
It also wasn't in Judy's nature to keep her thoughts or feelings to herself. They told the newspaper that if she'd been unhappy in her marriage to the point where she wanted to start over, she would have just come out and said that. They believe she would have asked Jeff for a divorce and that would have been the end of it.
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