1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,520 Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to be Found. 2 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:06,320 Listener discretion is strongly advised. 3 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:20,600 Okay, we're recording. 4 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,800 Are we reading or is this just like an intro we're talking? 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:25,120 I think let's just talk. 6 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:26,120 What do you think? 7 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:27,600 Okay, go. 8 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:28,800 Okay. 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,080 We are so excited about starting this podcast. 10 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:33,840 Beth, I'm a little bit nervous. 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:37,120 I am too. 12 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,160 So here's what I was thinking in the commute to work today. 13 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:44,760 One of the things that I wanted to talk about to the listeners was the fact that how we 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:50,240 kind of came up with the name Dying to be Found in my opinion, and you can certainly 15 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:51,800 tell me what you think. 16 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,440 It's not always about sinister stories of evil people. 17 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:02,640 I want the broadcast itself to be open to interpretation to our listeners. 18 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:09,780 So we can talk about missing persons or anything that we feel that kind of falls into people 19 00:01:09,780 --> 00:01:12,760 who just are holding out for hope. 20 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,080 That can yes include some of the stories that you hear on the news like we're going to talk 21 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:17,400 about today. 22 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:22,480 But I just kind of want to let our listeners know that we are thinking about you and we 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,860 want you to if you have any stories that you want us to cover. 24 00:01:25,860 --> 00:01:27,640 It is not just about true crime. 25 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,400 It is also about missing persons and things like that. 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:36,680 So if you have a story that you would love to hear, please send us an email at dying 27 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:41,140 the number two, the letter B found at gmail.com. 28 00:01:41,140 --> 00:01:45,640 But you can also visit us on our website at dying to be found.com. 29 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:47,360 And that's actually spelling the whole thing out. 30 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:49,640 So I'm going to try to get some consistency there. 31 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:50,640 We're getting started. 32 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:51,640 I'm excited. 33 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:52,640 That's excited. 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,960 What is going on in your neck of the woods? 35 00:01:55,960 --> 00:02:02,880 I was working afternoons yesterday and their evenings and I get off work at 11 and drive 36 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:09,240 40 kilometers an hour home, which what that might be about 30 miles an hour. 37 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:13,160 I get into my parking space. 38 00:02:13,160 --> 00:02:14,160 I got stuck. 39 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,840 So I had to back out and I had to shovel just to park my car. 40 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,400 Oh, my gosh. 41 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:23,920 I live in the United States and there was an incident a couple of years ago where I 42 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:28,880 was trying to be a good wife and I was running my car up and down the driveway to kind of 43 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,720 make tracks because I don't know if you've ever done that, Beth. 44 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:35,640 One of the reasons why I've never moved back to Canada is because I don't want to get up 45 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:37,520 at six o'clock in the morning to shovel. 46 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,000 But I can't believe you had to shovel to get into your parking space. 47 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:46,280 So when I was backing up and going up and down so that the tire marks were leaving like a 48 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:54,120 track so that John could come in and park, I ended up doing a 180 and slamming into my 49 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:55,720 mailbox. 50 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:57,960 You all my sister dropped off. 51 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:00,080 She's not even in this meeting anymore. 52 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:01,080 Hold that thought. 53 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,980 It looks like hopefully she is going to be able to log back on. 54 00:03:03,980 --> 00:03:06,520 So in the meantime, just be kind. 55 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:12,240 I have this saying on my wall and it's all about just being kind and kindness will follow 56 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:13,240 you. 57 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,200 I just wanted you all to think about that. 58 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:16,200 That's not here yet. 59 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:17,200 Okay. 60 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,000 So this is what I remember about Beth when we were growing up. 61 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,560 She's my older sister and I was the youngest. 62 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,560 So if anybody out there is the youngest, you know, you get babied a lot. 63 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,000 We have three sisters. 64 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,200 It's Beth and then my other sister and then myself. 65 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:37,040 Well, it always seemed like Beth and I used to gang up on our other sister. 66 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:38,680 Her name is Kathy, by the way. 67 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:44,960 But in the meantime, it was either always Beth and me against Kathy or Kathy and me 68 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:45,960 against Beth. 69 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:47,640 Who came out the winner here? 70 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:49,680 I'm thinking it was me. 71 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:50,840 Welcome back, Beth. 72 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:52,840 We've been talking about you. 73 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:53,840 You have? 74 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,960 I've been telling everybody about our childhood a little bit. 75 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,200 Oh, I guess you're going to have to listen to find out. 76 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,320 I guess I will. 77 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:07,000 My computer keeps freezing and then it crashes. 78 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,000 Oh, gosh. 79 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:12,200 Well, we're in episode one and you guys were learning. 80 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,480 It's a teachable moment for Beth and myself on how to do a podcast, but it's going to 81 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,440 be one of the best because we're going to take on North America. 82 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:20,440 Right? 83 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:21,440 Right. 84 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,920 OK, do you want to finish telling me about the snow? 85 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,520 Because I think I got sidetracked and told you about my 180 and smashing the mailbox. 86 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:33,400 So as I was moving into my spot, I couldn't get in. 87 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:38,840 So I parked it out a little ways and I continued shoveling. 88 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:45,380 And then I went to drive around a little block so that I could just run right into the snow 89 00:04:45,380 --> 00:04:47,120 so I wouldn't get stuck. 90 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:48,440 And in the meantime. 91 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:53,040 Wait, are you talking about taking a running start into the snow? 92 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:54,040 Yeah. 93 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,480 OK, keep going. 94 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:04,400 My dear husband with his huge massive truck happened to be in the parking spot because 95 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,080 he just got home from his afternoon shift. 96 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:14,120 So he went back and forth, back and forth with some of his big wheels like I did. 97 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,040 Yeah. 98 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,160 But he's probably got those snow tires on. 99 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,280 I didn't because I live in America where we don't get much snow. 100 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:26,800 You all I have not lived in Canada as a grown adult. 101 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:29,640 I don't even think I had my driver's license. 102 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:35,280 But Beth, do you have to shovel your driveway, like shoveled your area just to get out every 103 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:36,760 morning to go to work? 104 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,360 Depends on the winter. 105 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:41,520 That's why I don't move up north anymore. 106 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:42,640 What else you want to talk about? 107 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:43,800 Anything or should we get going? 108 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:45,760 Well, we may as well get going. 109 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:46,960 OK, let's get going. 110 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:49,720 I want to talk about Susan Smith. 111 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,400 Do you ever remember watching that show Criminal Minds? 112 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:53,400 Oh, yeah. 113 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:59,600 At the very beginning of that show, there's like a mosaic of people's mug shots. 114 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,200 And I kept zoning in on one person in particular. 115 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:08,280 I could not put my finger on who that person was until I literally started doing the research 116 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:13,120 on this case that I'm going to talk about today, which is Susan Smith from South Carolina. 117 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:16,200 Do you know much about her or just what was in the news? 118 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:17,440 Just what was in the news. 119 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,440 OK, so I'll just kind of get started in her early life and move through high school. 120 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:28,880 She was born Susan Lee Vaughn Smith on September 26th, 1971. 121 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,760 Her parents names were Linda Sue Harrison and Harry Vaughn. 122 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:37,440 They lived in Union, South Carolina, which is just east of Greenville. 123 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,920 Greenville is a pretty big hub in South Carolina. 124 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,080 So she lived just east of Greenville. 125 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,020 She was the youngest of three children. 126 00:06:44,020 --> 00:06:49,960 She had two older brothers and grew up in an extremely dysfunctional household. 127 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:55,360 Even though her parents argued in front of the kids all the time, Susan kept her dad 128 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:56,680 on a pedestal. 129 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:02,520 Unfortunately, when she was seven years old, he did commit suicide after her parents divorce. 130 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,760 I can imagine losing a parent at that age could be pretty detrimental. 131 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:08,720 From there, she was a little bit destructive. 132 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:16,400 And a few years later, her mom ended up marrying another man who, when Susan was 16, the stepdad 133 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:18,280 at that point molested her. 134 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,860 She reported this abuse to her counselor and her mother. 135 00:07:22,860 --> 00:07:25,020 Social services did nothing. 136 00:07:25,020 --> 00:07:28,960 There is speculation that Susan may have been convinced to drop the charges. 137 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,600 I'm sure that was quite awkward for the people in the house. 138 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:38,080 Okay, so in high school, as Susan got a little bit older, she did become somewhat promiscuous 139 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,800 and even began relationships with married men. 140 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:47,120 But on the good note, though, as a good civilian, as we all are trying to do our duty and volunteer 141 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:53,280 services in high school, she belonged to Civetan Club, which is known for community service. 142 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:58,240 And the senior yearbook had her titled as the friendliest female. 143 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,660 So I couldn't really find much more about that. 144 00:08:01,660 --> 00:08:07,080 So I'm really not sure if there's those two things tied in about her promiscuity, but 145 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:09,340 we'll just call her the friendliest female. 146 00:08:09,340 --> 00:08:17,520 She eventually ended up marrying David Smith on March 15, 1991, after she told David that 147 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,760 she was pregnant with her first child. 148 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:26,520 The couple's first son was Michael Daniel Smith, and he was born on October 10, 1991. 149 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:33,400 Just four months later, in March of 1992, Susan and David separated, but they continued 150 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:36,200 their on again off again relationship. 151 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:40,440 They remained married, but they were separated and they frequently had affairs while they 152 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:41,720 were married. 153 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,560 On November 1992, I guess this is when they were no longer on a break. 154 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:52,400 Susan ended up getting pregnant again with Alexander Tyler Smith, who was born August 155 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:53,760 5, 1993. 156 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:58,080 So she had two little ones pretty close in age together, trying to work it out with her 157 00:08:58,080 --> 00:08:59,080 husband. 158 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:05,220 But because Susan had a history, she was continuing to have those marital affairs after the boys 159 00:09:05,220 --> 00:09:06,260 were born. 160 00:09:06,260 --> 00:09:11,320 And then in 1994, Susan began having an affair with her boss's son. 161 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:16,400 He basically told Susan that he did not want to get married. 162 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:18,780 He did not want to have any kids. 163 00:09:18,780 --> 00:09:22,880 He did not want to deal with Susan's kids. 164 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:29,600 So I guess my question to you, Beth, is how long would you stay in a relationship with 165 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:35,280 somebody who just blatantly says, yeah, I don't really want to deal with your kids? 166 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:37,280 Zip nada. 167 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:43,520 Okay, so believe it or not, she actually got a dear Jane letter. 168 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:47,760 And if you're old enough to know a dear John or dear Jane letter before all these emails 169 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:54,040 came out, well, Susan was the recipient of one pretty much saying everything that I had 170 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,800 just mentioned about him not wanting to have any kids or dealing with hers. 171 00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:04,540 Based on Susan's background, Beth, what do you think was starting to go through Susan's 172 00:10:04,540 --> 00:10:05,540 head at this point? 173 00:10:05,540 --> 00:10:09,780 I mean, okay, we're talking about rejection, where we think we love someone, but they don't 174 00:10:09,780 --> 00:10:11,140 love us. 175 00:10:11,140 --> 00:10:14,400 What do you think was going on in her in her head? 176 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,620 Do you know anybody who's been in a situation like that? 177 00:10:17,620 --> 00:10:20,000 Did she tell Tom that she would leave her husband? 178 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:25,120 Well, I mean, that would be great if she would leave her husband, but she didn't want to 179 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:26,960 leave the boys with David. 180 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,640 She said no, it was not going to stop there. 181 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:33,600 She just decided that no, I'm not going to say anything to my husband. 182 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:35,240 There's no reason to leave him. 183 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:41,480 But after receiving that dear Jane letter, Susan unfortunately contemplated self harm 184 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:46,480 and did not want her boys to suffer because of what she witnessed when she was a child 185 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,600 when her dad completed suicide. 186 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:50,800 I'm not in this situation. 187 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:52,360 I've never been in this situation. 188 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:57,920 I don't know anybody in this situation, but it just seems to me like you're young and 189 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,760 you just think that that one person in your life is all that. 190 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:05,760 Well, you know, you're going to do everything that you can to try to make it work, right? 191 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:07,080 At least from your end. 192 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:08,800 For sure. 193 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:18,280 So on October 25th of 1994, Susan drove home, got both kids and just began driving around 194 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:20,200 around eight o'clock at that night. 195 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,640 Have you ever gotten in the car with your kids just to drive around? 196 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:26,920 I mean, I have known people, especially if you have like a colicky baby or something. 197 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,920 And sometimes those car rides are very soothing. 198 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:31,760 Have you ever put your kids in the car just to drive around? 199 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:35,880 I mean, it could be because that was a good, fast way for them to fall asleep. 200 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:43,000 I remember one time when my son, probably around two years old, wouldn't fall asleep 201 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:45,120 when we were in a cottage. 202 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,960 So we took him for long rides. 203 00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:55,400 We took turns, my husband and I, to drive around and it was moose territory. 204 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:56,760 And that's what crossed our minds. 205 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,280 Oh my gosh, are we going to hit a moose? 206 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:00,280 Holy cow. 207 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:02,760 We went back and forth a couple of times. 208 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:04,760 The kid never slept. 209 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:09,600 Oh, no, I don't think I've ever done that. 210 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,320 My kids were pretty good. 211 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:13,680 Question for you, Beth, don't you have a boat? 212 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:14,680 Yes. 213 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:15,680 Okay. 214 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:16,680 Boating off and on Lake Huron. 215 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:17,680 Okay. 216 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:19,040 That was my ocean growing up. 217 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:24,120 I'm just kind of bringing that up about boating because are you good with measurement? 218 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:25,120 Not at all. 219 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:26,920 Oh gosh, me neither, Beth. 220 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:31,280 Whenever I use the GPS, I swear I have to look at that picture so closely. 221 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,840 I cannot tell you how many turns I've missed. 222 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:35,520 I still use MapQuest. 223 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:40,560 I have a car that doesn't have a GPS and I prefer the map. 224 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:45,040 Dad taught us on maps and how to read them and I'm a map girl. 225 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,880 Susan was driving around that night and around nine o'clock, you remember she was in the 226 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:51,520 car for an hour or so. 227 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,640 She came up on a lake. 228 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:56,400 It was called John D Long Lake. 229 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:03,360 I personally live in a water ridden area, so I've passed a few boat ramps myself and 230 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,600 I do see that they're pretty long. 231 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:12,640 So she drove onto a 75 foot boat ramp at the John D Long Lake and then she decided she 232 00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:17,640 was going to stop halfway down and get out of her car with both kids still strapped to 233 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:18,640 the seat. 234 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:19,640 Okay. 235 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:20,840 Do you see anything wrong with this picture yet? 236 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:21,840 Yeah. 237 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,920 She's just going to take a break, get out of the car, maybe walk around the car for 238 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:25,920 a minute. 239 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,680 Why she decided to park the car on the ramp is beyond me. 240 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:30,720 She didn't stop there. 241 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:36,120 She just stood there and watched as her car went into the lake. 242 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:41,080 So she pretty much just left the kids in the back seat strapped in while she got out of 243 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:49,040 the car and watched it roll down halfway down that 75 foot boat ramp into the water. 244 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,080 Me personally, I can't imagine the scenario of just sitting there watching that happen. 245 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:54,680 It's unfathomable to me. 246 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:57,200 It is to your own children. 247 00:13:57,200 --> 00:13:58,200 Yeah. 248 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,800 And 10 minutes later she recovered because she was found crying on someone's porch about 249 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:04,560 a quarter of a mile away. 250 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:09,200 What am I thinking when I'm walking away from watching my children go down a, I guess at 251 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:14,740 that point, 35 foot boat ramp and walking a quarter of a mile, you guys that's going 252 00:14:14,740 --> 00:14:18,160 around the track one time, how long does that take you? 253 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,000 And she gets to the porch about a quarter of a mile away from the boat ramp and told 254 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:27,080 the homeowner that there was an African-American male that had jumped in her car while she 255 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:32,760 was just sitting at a red light, minding her own business, then stole her car with her 256 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:33,760 children inside. 257 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:38,040 I kind of want you to remember that I had mentioned the red light Beth, because that 258 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:39,520 kind of comes into play. 259 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:40,520 Okay. 260 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,600 So police have a job to do. 261 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:47,680 I'm going to say they're probably pretty good at it if they've been in policing for a while, 262 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,140 but they became very suspicious pretty much from the get go because remember the red light 263 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:55,680 that I just told you to remember that Susan was sitting at, right? 264 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:56,680 Right. 265 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:01,880 So you've probably come up to red lights before where there's like a little trigger or something 266 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:03,480 like a sensor. 267 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,240 So you're sitting there at the light and then you're coming up on it. 268 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,200 And then all of a sudden the light turns green. 269 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:13,560 This light in a very small town in union, South Carolina, basically had one of those 270 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:19,960 triggers and it was impossible for Susan to be at the red light because as you were coming 271 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:22,480 up on the light, the light censored it. 272 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,000 And then you just drive through the light would be green by the time you actually came 273 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,480 to the intersection. 274 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:33,080 She did say she was sitting at that red light, but the evidence shows that that was clearly 275 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:39,120 impossible and that never happened through the entire ordeal of the kids being missing. 276 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:45,240 David Smith did stand by Susan's side and he believed that her account of the whole 277 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:46,240 ordeal. 278 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,240 Okay. 279 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,160 So if I'm married to somebody like this and the kids disappear, I mean, I can kind of 280 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:51,160 get it. 281 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,520 Would you be in the same boat? 282 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:54,040 I feel okay. 283 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,480 In his defense, she is my wife. 284 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,160 I think, okay, well, I don't really know what's happening, but I'm definitely going to listen 285 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:02,680 to what she has to say about it. 286 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:07,280 So I definitely don't put as far as any blame in this situation. 287 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,120 I can't see that David could take any blame. 288 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:13,920 He just stood by her side and believed her because she's his wife, right? 289 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:14,920 Yeah. 290 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:15,920 A good liar too. 291 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:16,920 Oh, absolutely. 292 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:17,920 Or is she? 293 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:23,600 Two days after the boy's disappearance, both Susan and David Smith took a polygraph because 294 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:28,560 of those suspicions that they had on Susan's story about what happened at the intersection. 295 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:29,720 They both took it. 296 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:37,000 David passed his polygraph with flying colors, but Susan's polygraph showed deception, especially 297 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,960 when she was asked if she knew the whereabouts of her two boys. 298 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:45,880 I don't know how long it takes to take a polygraph, but I cannot imagine answering these questions 299 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,500 and literally saying, I do not know where my boys are at. 300 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:54,040 And then too, I don't know if how the laws are in Canada because again, I haven't been 301 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:57,480 there in a while, but you can't use a polygraph here in America. 302 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,800 It won't hold up in court because you know, some of them are considered to be unreliable. 303 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,360 I don't believe that they can use the results here either. 304 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:09,080 But isn't that still though, even though you can't use it in court, isn't that a great 305 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:11,640 tool to use to get people to confess? 306 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:12,640 Yes. 307 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,440 I think, you know, we're building up on the pressure here. 308 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:22,200 For the next nine days, Susan went on national news with her husband and begged the mysterious 309 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,640 carjacker to please return her children safely. 310 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:33,440 And during one of her interviews, Susan literally said, whoever did this is a sick, emotionally 311 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:34,860 unstable person. 312 00:17:34,860 --> 00:17:39,400 I actually threw in a couple pictures into some notes here that I'm going through. 313 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:44,920 And I did this so that you can envision some of the photos of her sitting on the couch 314 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:46,800 while she's being interviewed. 315 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,480 Have you ever seen anybody interviewed on the news that's fake crying? 316 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,920 Yeah, I can think of a couple. 317 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,000 All this stuff is coming up. 318 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,480 And when I did my research, I did actually go and look at some of these videos again. 319 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,920 Yeah, she's still fake crying almost 30 years later. 320 00:17:59,920 --> 00:18:05,680 The community became just as suspicious because the population of Union, South Carolina was 321 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:11,000 approximately 70% Caucasian and 30% African American. 322 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,000 Think about that. 323 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,880 I don't know what kind of community you have as far as diversity, Beth, but when you have 324 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:22,800 70, 30, then many of the people in that community felt that it was a little bit unbelievable 325 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:29,260 because someone would notice an African American man driving around with two Caucasian children 326 00:18:29,260 --> 00:18:30,400 in the backseat. 327 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,100 I guess there was just a lot of speculation on that. 328 00:18:33,100 --> 00:18:37,440 The sketch artist also felt that Susan was being deceptive. 329 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:42,400 So sounds to me like the only person standing by her right now is her husband as well. 330 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:43,560 He probably should. 331 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:48,920 But the sketch artist felt that Susan was being deceptive because she was just too vague. 332 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:53,280 I actually added this sketch into our notes as we're talking here and I wanted to get 333 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:54,280 your feedback. 334 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:55,280 What do you think about this sketch? 335 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,040 Well, a couple of things. 336 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:58,040 It's pretty basic. 337 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,320 There is nothing that really stands out about the picture. 338 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:04,600 And two, why does she have a profile view? 339 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,040 Is it because she was sitting next to him? 340 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,760 The sketches I've seen are usually facing forward. 341 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:11,840 Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. 342 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:18,120 I don't think I've ever seen a sketch of somebody that everybody's trying to look out for. 343 00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:20,720 I've never seen a profile view. 344 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:21,960 It's average. 345 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:28,520 There's no distinguishing features between the lie detector test and the sketch artist 346 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,520 and the community. 347 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,200 Susan was crumbling at that point. 348 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:39,320 On November 3rd, 1994, Susan was pretty much confronted by the authorities about all these 349 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,320 inconsistencies in her story. 350 00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,320 So she finally broke down and admitted everything that happened. 351 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,680 She had got her Dear Jane letter. 352 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:53,880 She drove around to just think about things, strapped those poor children in the car, got 353 00:19:53,880 --> 00:20:00,600 to the lake and got out of the car with the kids strapped inside, 75 foot ramp. 354 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,480 Now she was only at about 35, probably 40 feet at the very most. 355 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:09,320 But think about how much velocity that's going to be coming up off that car as it's speeding 356 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,000 down that ramp. 357 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:15,120 Earlier when the kids were still missing, the police actually were looking. 358 00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:19,960 They went ahead and swept that lake, but they only, and I couldn't find any reasons why, 359 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:23,400 but they went out only 30 feet. 360 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,800 Because of that velocity of the car speeding down the ramp, the car actually drifted out 361 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,360 to about 60 feet. 362 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:35,600 The community's response that came from all of this was that Susan's brother was somewhat 363 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:36,600 vocal. 364 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:41,960 He apologized to the African American community and said that Susan's actions did not really 365 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:43,720 reflect what was going on. 366 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:49,560 Where he stood in the family, he did not want Susan's accusations to cause division in the 367 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:54,520 community between Caucasian and African American Christian groups or the community. 368 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:56,680 The Christian groups were also saying the same thing. 369 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,440 They had a couple of preachers in town that were pretty much saying that on Sunday morning 370 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,300 at their church that they needed to be forgiving. 371 00:21:03,300 --> 00:21:06,040 This was not the time to divide the community. 372 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,940 And that's pretty much what Susan's brother said. 373 00:21:07,940 --> 00:21:13,620 So I have got to just applaud that community because what a time to come together. 374 00:21:13,620 --> 00:21:18,380 I think that there's just so much bias and things going on. 375 00:21:18,380 --> 00:21:22,880 And this could definitely have really put a wedge into the community. 376 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,800 But bravo to them that everybody came together on this. 377 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:35,520 On November 6th, 1994, Michael Smith and Alexander Smith were buried together in a coffin. 378 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,520 Then Susan went on to her trial after that. 379 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:39,520 All right. 380 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:45,680 So during her sentencing, about eight months before Susan's trial, she was kept on watch 381 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,800 in the jail because they were afraid that she was going to harm herself. 382 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:55,400 Although Susan was clearly suffering from various mental disorders, she was still found 383 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,040 fit to stand trial. 384 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:02,200 And prosecutors originally sought the death penalty that required a unanimous vote from 385 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:03,200 the jury. 386 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:08,920 And after five days of testimony, it took the jury less than three hours to come back 387 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:10,940 with the guilty plea. 388 00:22:10,940 --> 00:22:15,860 She was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison where she sits today. 389 00:22:15,860 --> 00:22:17,360 Here comes David Smith again. 390 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:18,400 Oh my gosh. 391 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,160 My heart goes out to him. 392 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:25,160 He had such a traumatic event happen in his life, but he's been strong. 393 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,640 And he actually said during the trial or after the trial and Susan was sentenced to the 30 394 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:35,040 years to life in prison, that David did not agree with the jury's decision of that life 395 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,600 in prison, but he respected it. 396 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:38,760 He's since moved on. 397 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:44,680 I read somewhere that he didn't think he ever could move on, but the beautiful outcome of 398 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:50,000 this is that he did eventually have another daughter and a son and he's doing really well 399 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:51,000 today. 400 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,000 That's nice to hear. 401 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,000 Yeah. 402 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:54,000 That is excellent. 403 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:58,320 Just coming to coming back to Susan, she was initially sent to the Camille Griffin Graham 404 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:01,360 Correctional Facility in Columbia, South Carolina. 405 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,640 But while she was there, imagine this, Beth, she had sexual relations with a couple of 406 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:06,640 the guards. 407 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:07,640 There she is. 408 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:08,640 Of course she did. 409 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:09,640 Still the pattern, right? 410 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:10,640 Yeah. 411 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:15,520 She was moved to the Leith Correctional Institute in Greenwood County, South Carolina. 412 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:20,920 But in the midst of all this, I feel like human beings are still social creatures. 413 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,320 Everybody should have a chance at love, right? 414 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:29,920 She posted a personal profile on writeaconvict.com, but it was later taken down. 415 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,260 That's good. 416 00:23:31,260 --> 00:23:33,200 She shouldn't have been able to do that. 417 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,400 Wait, was it good that she posted on writeaconvict.com? 418 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:37,400 No. 419 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:42,120 I just want to know how in the world she posted on writeaconvict.com. 420 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:46,280 Do they have like a public library on the facility that they could go to and just sign 421 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:47,280 up? 422 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:48,280 Probably did. 423 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:49,760 Anyway, there we have it. 424 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:54,960 So she's still sitting in the Leith Correctional Institute in Greenville, South Carolina and 425 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:56,980 is up for parole. 426 00:23:56,980 --> 00:24:00,720 Get this on November 4th, 2024. 427 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:02,520 So that's two and a half years from now. 428 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:08,520 I don't think she should be paroled when you do something like that so serious, and especially 429 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,280 to your own children and lying to the community. 430 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:12,280 Oh yeah, for sure. 431 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,800 I think she needs to pay for her actions. 432 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:20,880 Well, I found a letter because I went back and I researched a little bit more and she 433 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:27,840 did write a letter about this entire ordeal because journaling is very therapeutic and 434 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:29,400 good for the soul, right? 435 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:30,400 Yeah. 436 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:37,200 I thought that I could probably read the Epser- how do you say that? 437 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:38,200 I'm going to read the letter. 438 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:39,200 You're doing good. 439 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,520 I'm going to read this letter from Susan. 440 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,040 It's dated in 1999. 441 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:47,040 Here we go. 442 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:52,680 When I left my home on Tuesday, October 25th, I was very emotionally distraught. 443 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,600 I did not want to live anymore! 444 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,840 I felt like things could never get any worse. 445 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:03,440 When I left home, I was going to ride around a little while and then I would just go to 446 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:04,440 my mom's. 447 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:11,040 As I rode and rode and rode, I felt that even more anxiety was coming up upon me. 448 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:12,800 I no longer wanted to live. 449 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:17,600 I felt I couldn't be a good mom anymore, but I didn't want my children to grow up without 450 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:18,600 a mom. 451 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:24,360 I felt I had to end our lives to protect us all from any grief or harm. 452 00:25:24,360 --> 00:25:25,800 And then she scribbled out something. 453 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:26,800 I'm not sure. 454 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,160 I can't even see what it says. 455 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,580 I have never felt so lonely and so sad in my entire life. 456 00:25:32,580 --> 00:25:38,420 I was in love with someone very much, but he didn't love me and never would. 457 00:25:38,420 --> 00:25:44,440 I had a very difficult time accepting that, but I had hurt him very much and I could see 458 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,520 why he could never be me. 459 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,560 I think that she meant never be with me. 460 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:58,600 When I was at John D. Long Lake, I had never felt so scared and unsure as I did then. 461 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,040 I wanted to end my life so bad. 462 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:07,200 I was in my car, ready to go down that ramp into the water and I did go part way, but 463 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:08,440 I stopped. 464 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,840 I went again and stopped. 465 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:16,080 I then got out of the car and stood by the car, a nervous wreck. 466 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,080 Why was I feeling this way? 467 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:20,440 Why was everything so bad in my life? 468 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,020 I had no answers to these questions. 469 00:26:23,020 --> 00:26:28,240 I dropped to the lowest when I allowed my children to go down that ramp into the water 470 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:29,640 without me. 471 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:30,640 You know what? 472 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:31,640 I think I'm done reading. 473 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,200 There's a whole nother paragraph here. 474 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,320 If anybody wants to see this, you can actually find this online. 475 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,840 It is dated 11-3-1999. 476 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,520 I don't think I want to listen to that anymore. 477 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:42,520 What do you think? 478 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:43,520 Oh, yeah. 479 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:44,520 Okay. 480 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:45,520 I get it. 481 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:46,520 She needs to stay in jail. 482 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:47,520 Yeah. 483 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,560 Well, two and a half years. 484 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,360 We'll see her driving around. 485 00:26:51,360 --> 00:26:52,360 Okay. 486 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:57,400 With that being said, that's our very first podcast and that's our very first story. 487 00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:58,680 What other thoughts do you have? 488 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,600 Any thoughts about the story itself, Beth? 489 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:06,320 No, I just keep going back to thinking of those two boys as mom was watching them go 490 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:07,320 down. 491 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:08,320 It's cruel. 492 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:09,800 It's just unimaginable. 493 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:11,960 Yeah, for sure. 494 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:12,960 Okay. 495 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:14,020 Well, goodness. 496 00:27:14,020 --> 00:27:15,780 You know what we haven't talked about? 497 00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:18,000 How do we end these things? 498 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:19,000 There you have it. 499 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,000 Our first podcast. 500 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,360 I'm sorry it was so grim. 501 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:27,840 If you guys are looking to listen to anything that has to do with missing people, anywhere 502 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:33,000 that we can maybe spread some hope, give you guys the things that you want to listen to, 503 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:39,240 by all means, you can email us at DyingToBeFound at gmail.com and you can visit us on social 504 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:46,680 media at Twitter and Instagram at DyingToBeFound and then also go visit our website at DyingToBeFound. 505 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:47,680 Sounds good. 506 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:48,680 Okay. 507 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:49,680 We are. 508 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:50,680 Keep listening. 509 00:27:50,680 --> 00:28:16,360 million.