The views and opinions expressed in Cold and
Missing are exclusively those of the hosts. All
parties mentioned are considered innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law. Cold and Missing
also contains adult themes and languages. Listener
discretion is advised. I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin
-Sulkowski. And I'm your co -host, Eli Sulkowski.
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover
cold cases and missing person cases. Hello, everyone,
and welcome back to Cold and Missing. I'm your
host, Ali, and it will just be me coming to
you this week. Eli is tied up in some other projects,
but I still wanted to bring you an episode. I
know we've been a little sporadic this summer
because our dog was going through some health
things and then he had to have some surgery,
but he is doing... much better he almost has
us all clear from the vet so thank you if you've
been thinking about him about us sending us warm
wishes we see it all we appreciate it all so
thank you so much for that but in light of that
I wanted to bring you another case we are on
episode 134 this week and it is a missing person
case and I think we should just go ahead and
get into it. So just as a bit of a content warning
at the top, this case does involve a young person,
and there are mentions of sexual assault and
child abuse. Today, we are talking about the
missing person case of Yasmin Acree, and this
takes place in January of 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.
But first, a little bit about Yasmin. Yasmin
Acree is 15 years old in 2008. She lives in the
North Austin neighborhood on Chicago's West Side.
She lives there with her adoptive mother, Rose
Starnes. Rose was her aunt by marriage and had
taken Yasmin in and her older brother, Demarcus,
after pressure from the family. Yasmin and Demarcus
had been born in Kentucky, but their birth mother
had suffered from drug addiction and the two
of them were neglected. and therefore removed
from the home. They both were sent into the foster
system, and they both suffered abuse there. Once
Yasmin had been adopted and was living in Chicago,
she seemed to find her footing for some time.
She was the star at her spelling bee and the
salutatorian of her 8th grade class. In January
of 2008, she was a freshman at Austin Polytechnical
Academy, and she was starting to struggle in
school more than she had before. Yasmin loved
to read. She would devour books one right after
the other. She was also active at her local YMCA
and was in the mentorship program there. She
was excited at the Y. She was going to take part
in their new job initiative, and she would be
taking part in their summer trip. She was looking
forward to a lot of things. In the months leading
up to the timeline, we know that Demarcus, Yasmin's
older brother, was kicked out of their home in
Chicago. Yasmin and Demarcus both had rooms in
the basement, and this left Yasmin by herself
in the basement. And now, a timeline of events.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008. We know that Yasmin
had a pretty normal day at school. After school,
she went to the YMCA and spent time there. Her
mentor dropped her off at her home around 8 p
.m. Her adoptive mother, Rose, was not home.
She had gone to spend time with her daughter
in Elgin, Illinois. Rose's live -in boyfriend,
Charles Burt, who rented a room in Rose's house
as well, was left home with Yasmin. When Yasmin
got home from the YMCA, she did a load of laundry
and got ready for bed. She was last seen around
9 .30 p .m. wearing pajamas. The next day, Wednesday,
January 16th, 2008, in the morning, Charles is
getting ready for work. Before he leaves, he
takes the trash out, and when he heads out to
the bins, he notices something strange. The lock
on the basement scissor gate had been cut, and
the basement door was busted open. Charles goes
down into the basement and looks for Yasmin in
her bedroom, but she's not there. He assumes
that she went to school early. Her bed appeared
to have been slept in. But even this was strange.
Yasmin made her bed every single morning, so
it was strange that it was left unmade. Charles
gives Rose a call, but she says she never got
the phone call. Her phone was broken. Charles
says he left a message saying that the basement
door was busted wide open, and then he left for
work. When Rose got back to Chicago, she heard
from her niece that her home had been broken
into. When Rose gets to the house, she sees the
basement for herself and Yasmin's unmade bed,
and she starts to worry. She tells Charles to
fix the basement door. At 5 p .m., Rose says
that she remembered that Yasmin had a half day
of school, so she should have been home already.
When Yasmin still fails to arrive, she calls
the police at 5 .31 p .m. It takes the Chicago
police a little over 90 minutes to respond. During
that time, Rose kept calling 911 back. When police
finally do arrive just a few minutes after 7
p .m., they suggest that maybe Yasmin stayed
late at school since there was a sporting event
happening that evening. The police ride over
to the school to check, but Yasmin is not there.
They do talk to some classmates. The classmates
try to be helpful and tell police that Yasmin
ran away and that she had called them. Later
in the investigation, the classmates will recant
the story, and their phone records will prove
that it was a lie. Yasmin never called them.
That evening, police return to Rose's home, and
according to the family, police tell them that
they think that she's a runaway, based off of
this information coming from the school friends.
The family says that the police don't even go
into the basement or take the cut lock as evidence.
Rose also insists to the police that it is unlike
Yasmin to run away, and the only things missing
from her bedroom were her pajamas, her coat,
and her boots. The next day, Thursday, January
17th, police return to the house and collect
the cut lock as evidence. They'll also dust for
fingerprints, but at this point, the scene had
been compromised. Charles had fixed the basement
door and people had been in and out of the basement
and Yasmin's room. Weeks pass, and then months.
As July of 2008 rolls around, Yasmin's family
still firmly believe that she didn't run away.
Family and friends gather outside of the police
department to try to get more attention on her
case and put pressure on the police to investigate.
Community leaders think that Yasmin's case isn't
getting attention because she's a young black
girl from the west side of Chicago. The police
push back and say that they have logged hundreds
of hours on the case, but they still don't have
any leads or suspects. Police also say that they
are not getting full cooperation from people
who may have knowledge of her whereabouts. By
October of 2009, so just shy of two years that
Yasmin has been missing, her bedroom remains
untouched. Stuffed animals are still gathered
at the head of her bed, and her clothes are still
neatly folded in the dresser, clothes that she
would have likely outgrown at this point. In
an extraordinary move, the Chicago Police Department
acknowledges that the initial investigation was
mishandled. A letter from the Internal Affairs
Division confirms misconduct by department members.
Despite this, Police maintain that delays in
evidence collection haven't slowed down the investigation
at all and hasn't hampered the integrity of it.
But still, they don't have any leads or suspects
in the case. In 2011, the Chicago Tribune starts
digging into Yasmin's disappearance. While interviewing
Rose, reporters discover a diary that Yasmin
kept until a month before she vanished. In it,
Yasmin mentions Jimmy Terrell Smith, a 35 -year
-old ex -con who at one time lived in the upstairs
apartment of the two -flat that Yasmin's family
lived in. Smith lived in the upstairs apartment
after serving time on an attempted murder charge.
He had moved out of the upstairs apartment prior
to Yasmin disappearing, but according to family
friends, Smith had seen Yasmin at a barbecue
in the neighborhood shortly before she disappeared.
People say that Smith gave Yasmin a beer and
told her that she looked like a Playboy model.
Smith will later be arrested on charges of kidnapping
and raping multiple women. When confronted in
jail by the Chicago Tribune reporters, Smith
says that he knows what happened to Yasmin, but
doesn't give specifics. He says that he hid photograph
negatives in an attic vent at his ex -girlfriend's
house on the south side of Chicago. and that
in the backyard, there was a dog tether that
Smith claimed he used on humans. When the Tribune
go to the house, it's abandoned, but they do
see a dog tether in the backyard. Armed with
this information, the Tribune goes to the police.
They show police the diary, something that police
had never collected before that, and reveal the
Jimmy Terrell Smith connection. After getting
this information from the Chicago Tribune, Police
secure search warrants for the Southside home,
and during their search, police do collect evidence,
including that dog tether that they found in
the backyard. But they're never really specific
about what else they find there. Also through
the Tribune's reporting, we learn more about
Yasmin's life. She was often left alone, and
at times unprotected. She had survived previous
sexual abuse which deeply impacted her self -worth.
When she acted out, Rose sometimes locked her
in the basement or beat her with a belt. Rose
later admitted, quote, Her brother, DeMarcus,
adds that the truth about Yasmin's life is complicated,
but necessary to understand what might have happened
to her. Her diary is a time capsule. There are
parts of it that are like any other teenager's
diary. She's a smart, vibrant teenager. writing
about Black History Month essays, her favorite
singer, and the pressures of body image. In other
parts of her diary, she talks about the abuse
that she suffered. In her diary, there are two
mentions of Jimmy Terrell Smith. In both of the
mentions, Yasmin talks about him affectionately.
In 2014, six years after Yasmin vanished, Rose
passes away without ever finding out what happened
to the niece that she raised. Over the years,
Yasmin's case will appear in the media, but there
are no new updates or suspects named in the case.
Her brother Demarcus and other siblings are still
championing her case and want answers as to what
happened to their sister. As of today, Yasmin's
case remains unsolved. Police have never officially
named a suspect in Yasmin's case. So if you know
anything about the disappearance of Yasmin Ackrey
in January of 2008 or her whereabouts today,
please call the Cook County Sheriff's Office
at 773 -674 -9490 or the Chicago Police Department
at 312 -744 -8266. So that is the case of Yasmin
Ackrey. This is a case that locally in Chicago
I think did get a lot of coverage, but nationally
it never really got beyond the city limits of
Chicago, even though Yasmin had grown up in Kentucky.
And this is a case that I think could really
benefit from national attention. In case Yasmin
is anywhere else in the U .S., this could get
out to her. This could get to her. Someone who
knows her could hear this. So I think this is
a case that could really benefit from that. I
was also really just for lack of a better word
disappointed whenever I learned about Yasmin's
case. There were just so many adults in her life
that failed her over and over again. From the
time that she was a baby she was abandoned and
neglected and then suffered abuse and trauma
in the foster care system and then when she's
finally adopted out she still is unprotected
sometimes left to herself and her best interests
aren't always at the forefront of the adult's
minds who are charged with taking care of her
and that's just really disappointing there were
so many chances for this young girl to have a
normal life and nobody could like step up and
give her the life that she deserved and her brother
you know her siblings as well nobody gave them
the life that they deserved and that's just really
disappointing and you know this is a case that
didn't happen that long ago 2008 still feels
very recent and it's very heartbreaking that
Children are still being failed so greatly to
this degree in this day and age. It's the 21st
century. Like, children should have a better
shot at life no matter what. And I'm so sad that
that didn't happen here in Yasmin's case. It
really breaks my heart for her. This case has
a lot of questions. I want to give a shout out
to the Chicago Tribune because they really did
do a lot of the heavy lifting in Yasmin's case.
Even the police work, the legwork, they were
uncovering evidence and interviewing family and
friends for hours to get details about Yasmin's
life. And that's just something that it looks
like the police didn't do here. The fact that
the Chicago Tribune reporters found Yasmin's
diary in her bedroom, tells me that police didn't
really search that bedroom. Otherwise, that diary
should have been taken as evidence if they saw
it. So that brings to question, what have the
police done in this case? We know that the night
that Yasmin is reported missing, they show up
and, you know, go to the school, talk to some
kids there. And based off of what the kids say,
They think Yasmin just ran away. So we know they
don't take the cut lock, and we know that they
don't do any fingerprinting that night. They
come back the next day to get the lock and to
fingerprint, but at that point, everything had
been touched. Everything had been compromised.
So I would be curious if the police have any
physical evidence in this case from the lock,
from fingerprints. Is there anything that they've
been able to use? I know I already touched on
this, but it's the adults in this case, the fact
that, you know, the live -in boyfriend saw this
basement door busted open, busted open, cut lock.
Like these, this, you know, that's not like a
child left to go to school early. Like they wouldn't
do all of that. They would just go out the front
door. Like to see these signs, to see Yasmin
gone and just think, well, she must have gone
to school early. And then this happened, like.
That is just crazy. Like, I don't know if it's
denial of saying, like, that couldn't happen.
You have to put it so far out of your mind that,
like, the next logical thing would be that she
went to school. Or if it's just, like, carelessness.
Or if it's more nefarious. Like, there's all
the, like, why? You know, if I am living in my
city. two flat walk up and the basement door
leads to the outside and it's busted open and
the child that normally sleeps in the basement
also isn't there when she normally would have
been. I'm raising the alarm. If I can't get a
hold of her mother, her adoptive mother, then
I'm calling the police. I'm going to keep calling
people until I raise the alarm. I wouldn't be
able to just go to work. So again, Yasmin just
being failed by the adults that were supposed
to be taking care of her. And then, to me, it
seems like while police have officially never
named a suspect in Yasmin's case, I would say
that a person of interest is Jimmy Terrell Smith.
We do know that years later, I think it was 2016,
If I'm not mistaken, he did plead guilty to the
kidnapping and rape charges against four women.
And the details from that case are pretty horrific.
You know, he kept these women, tortured them,
raped them. He also, they said, would play Russian
roulette with them. So he would, you know, put
one bullet in the gun, spin it and then point
it at them. and fire. So just tortured. These
women were absolutely tortured. And we know he
pleads guilty to this and he gets over a hundred
year life sentence, you know, effectively a life
sentence. It's over a hundred years he has to
serve. And while he's in prison, we also know
that he attempts to set up a hit on a judge and
I think a prosecutor as well. So this is a violent
man who has a criminal track record of attempted
murders, of kidnapping, and of sexual assault
and rape. So to me, this is a suspect and he
was having inappropriate contact with Yasmin
because giving a 15 -year -old a beer and telling
her that she looks like a Playboy model from
a 35 -year -old to a 15 -year -old is inappropriate.
So we know that there was inappropriate contact,
inappropriate interactions, and if that's just
what people saw, then I can only imagine what
else might have gone on, especially when he was
living at the house. We also know that Jimmy
Smith tells the reporters at the Tribune that
he knows what happened to Yasmin and kind of
claims her disappearance as, you know, he was
involved in it or he knows what happens, but
doesn't give any details beyond, you know, the
dog tether thing and the pictures in the attic.
There's no reports of police did end up finding
pictures in this house. We don't know. Maybe
they did find that. But I personally would be
very interested to know what came about when
police did interview Smith. We know that police
interviewed him at least twice. And one of the
interviews was several hours long. So I would
be very interested to... read that transcript
to to see what he was said and to if police were
able to verify anything or to rule him out because
i think if he didn't have anything to do with
this he's just a disgusting man and you know
is serving the rest of his life in prison then
police kind of need to come out and clear him
because he's been so closely associated with
it that it's hard to imagine anybody else involved
in the crime. But, you know, there's still a
lot of different avenues that could have happened
here. And even though I think Smith is a really
great person of interest and I wouldn't rule
him out until I had very clear evidence that
he had nothing to do with it. I would be interested
to know what other scenarios police think could
have happened here, if any other information
has come in, any other tips. Yasmin has been
missing for 17 years, 17 and a half years at
the time of recording this. And my hopes for
her case is that the Chicago Police Department
puts resources and time and energy into her case
and into questioning Jimmy Smith. police do think
he had something to do with it or think that
he's responsible that they don't just you know
kind of say well he's in prison for the rest
of his life so you know what's the point of that
because I think the point is that her family
needs answers he should have to answer for what
he did to her if he's involved in it and Yasmin
deserves to come home If she's still here, if
she's still with us, if she's still alive, which
her family does still have hope that she could
be, then she deserves to come home and to reunite
with them and to spend years with them. She's
been gone longer than she was with her family
at this point. So she deserves that time back
with her family. And if she's not with us, she
deserves to come home. She deserves to be...
put to rest, and in a place where those who love
her and care about her can come and pay respects.
But again, if you know anything about the disappearance
of Yasmin Ackrey in January of 2008 or her whereabouts
today, please call the Cook County Sheriff's
Office at 773 -674 -9490 or the Chicago Police
Department at 312 -744 -8266. On our Instagram,
at coldandmissing, we will have pictures of Yasmin
at the time that she went missing, but we'll
also have her age progression to 30 years old.
So she would be in her early 30s today. So if
you can go take a look at that, share them if
you're able to. Let's get her picture out there,
especially her age progressed pictures, so that
way if someone recognizes her or thinks that
they know her, they can call that tip in. Again,
that's... Cold and Missing, you search us on
Instagram. We should pop right up. And please
follow us there if you're not already. We're
really close to 2 ,000 followers on Instagram,
which is mind -blowing. And then we also are
always sharing active missing person cases. So
as I see things, I always post them on our story.
And if we're ever needing to take a week off,
we will always post it there to keep you in the
loop. So please follow us at coldandmissing .com.
Or please follow us at Cold and Missing. Coldandmissing
.com is our official website where we have our
official transcripts. So if you or someone you
love is hard of hearing, you can find all our
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know that podcast players are automatically transcribing
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I appreciate you so much. But that is all I have
for you today. Thank you so much for listening
to Cold and Missing. It means so much to be a
part of your week. I'm your host, Ali. Have
a good week and stay safe, y 'all.