AZ AZ - Laurie 'Allison' Smith, 22, Tucson, 8 Feb 1977
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AZ Native Cat
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So after reading all this great information the question for me is if Lee killed her where would this most likely have occurred? If we do a 21 mile path out to the desert where would that most likely take us? Did any of these people see Lee later that evening or the next day? Also something that has puzzled me is why did it take so long for the rental car to be found? After a couple of days without it being returned it would most likely been reported as stolen in which case the police would have been looking fore it albeit passively.
Hello everyone. This is Karen, I am one of Laurie's 2 younger sisters, the one who lived next door to her in Tucson when she disappeared. She has a brother Randy, also in NM and another sister Hillary, in FL. I haven't posted for awhile, but thought I'd update with no new info. She is still missing, we are in the process of trying to have her declared deceased, after 44 years.
This profile picture is not Laurie, so hopefully the girl's real identity might be found elsewhere. Of the three other pics of her on different missing person sites, the color pic was the most recent.
I can assure you she has never been forgotten, but TPD does not have the resources to pursue this cold case. It fell through the cracks in 1977 and any leads were lost before her disappearance was taken seriously.
Feel free to contact me if you have any tips or questions or just want clarification of info already posted. krasmason at gmail dot com
This profile picture is not Laurie, so hopefully the girl's real identity might be found elsewhere. Of the three other pics of her on different missing person sites, the color pic was the most recent.
I can assure you she has never been forgotten, but TPD does not have the resources to pursue this cold case. It fell through the cracks in 1977 and any leads were lost before her disappearance was taken seriously.
Feel free to contact me if you have any tips or questions or just want clarification of info already posted. krasmason at gmail dot com
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Great questions! The rental car WAS reported as stolen. In fact that's the only reason why they were looking for her, grand auto theft. The car was found parked in an apartment complex parking lot (coincidentally on the next street over from the landlord's house) where most if not all tenants were college students. Once the kids went home for the holidays, this car was the only one left in the parking lot. Someone finally noticed it hadn't been moved all school year. They say they couldn't get any prints off the car, and the car was destroyed before any of us realized that it should have been processed by a CSI, and likely wasn't.
Yes, the morning that she didn't come home, her boyfriend Michael and I (her sister) went to Lee's house to confront him. He denied having talked to her since she'd moved out a year or more before, and when Michael said he had personally answered the phone numerous times when Lee had called over the last few weeks and knew he was lying, he still denied it and sent us away.
We then went to the police and they wouldn't take a report until she'd been gone 48 hours. We went back as soon as the 48 hours was up and told them about Lee. They supposedly went to go talk to him, and left a business card for him to call them. The next time they went back, his house was empty, he'd moved away, seemingly in the middle of the night.
We have her dental records, it's not her. She had her wisdom teeth removed, and had braces in junior high. Nothing out of the ordinary. But I sent the link to NAMUS just to make sure. Thank you!
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Hi Karas,
I hope you and your family eventually find the answers you seek. TPD is known for looking the other way and being lazy during investigative work so I would say it is mostly upon others to fill in the gaps of answers when it comes to the many, many missing people in Arizona. Yeah it’s a big desert but people know things and don’t say them out here. I’m looking into multiple cases of missing persons in the area and attempting to do my own inquiry. Do you have the address of the apartment you stayed at, or the house of Mast? What was Allison wearing when she had left? I saw there was a feminine hairbrush found in Mast’ driveway that was suspect, but never followed up upon. Did TPD ever search the area near the Maverick for possible clues? Was Greg Chandler’s car or house ever searched? It seems to me that Mast and Chandler worked together to keep this as quiet as possible but it seems Chandler was scorned deep down as an ex of Allison’s and Mast has a history of violence against women. It was clear he murdered his wife and the prosecution mishandled the case.
Caring1
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Has UP5166 been reviewed? In searching this thread, I don’t see her mentioned and wanted to suggest since the jewelry description appears similar to the items worn in both of Laurie’s pictures.
UID jewelry:
Sterling silver, Indian type, oblong ring with Turquoise and Onyx stone. Sterling silver, Indian type, Turquoise, oblong Ring, with matching tear-drop earrings and oblong necklace pendant.
UID: 5’6” and 125lbs est. (age 15-38)
Found 6/20/79 in PA (PMI estimate ‘78-‘79)
Head Hair Description:
Light brown to blonde, medium-length, straight hair.
(picture enhanced for viewing of necklace)
UID jewelry:
Sterling silver, Indian type, oblong ring with Turquoise and Onyx stone. Sterling silver, Indian type, Turquoise, oblong Ring, with matching tear-drop earrings and oblong necklace pendant.
UID: 5’6” and 125lbs est. (age 15-38)
Found 6/20/79 in PA (PMI estimate ‘78-‘79)
Head Hair Description:
Light brown to blonde, medium-length, straight hair.
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.
www.namus.gov
(picture enhanced for viewing of necklace)
LucyOso
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There is so much information and I love the amount of family/friends involvement. I know a lot of people who made millions on marijuana in the 1970's. These are "pillars of the community". Part of this success was running a lot of product, knowing people would be arrested, ripped off, and product would get lost. That was part of the game. Bought cheap and sold high. Higher level dealers worked in silos, so often many deals were occurring at one time with different players unaware of one another. I think the year that went by after Laurie was ripped off, the amount of money in her accounts, could show that she was not retaliated for that loss.
It sounds like Laurie was saving money to move to Switzerland with her boyfriend. I do wonder if Laurie was given a chance to make a large chunk of money transporting weed across country. Marijuana moved West to East, with East coast buyers paying a premium. Especially with less inventory due to the feds. She could have been familiar with other dealers no one was aware of and given she presented well, young college student, could be a good candidate for cross-country delivery. She would have kept this quiet. She could have had more connections than the lower level dealers in Tucson.
I am guessing Laurie went out of state, with the intent to return. There is the rental car, that could have been returned to the apartments after she disappeared. What I am guessing is she drove to a property/house somewhere within that 21ish mile radius with the rental car/weed. From there, she (either alone/with someone) transferred weed to another vehicle. This vehicle was used for a cross country run. Something occurred on that delivery run. Most likely random robbery, setup, or failed deal. She never returned and is not in AZ. At some point, once it was realized something occurred, who ever she was working for, returned that rental car to close the loop. I am guessing that car sat for awhile where it was, possibly in a garage or barn before it's return.
There is also a possibility after meeting at a rendezvous site, she flew out to collect weed somewhere. Private airport/strip or Phoenix airport. Wearing glasses can in itself be a bit of a disguise. On return something sinister occurred. I think searching for her outside the state is not unreasonable.
Discussing Laurie in this UID thread. Family, do you recognize any jewelry?
www.websleuths.com
It sounds like Laurie was saving money to move to Switzerland with her boyfriend. I do wonder if Laurie was given a chance to make a large chunk of money transporting weed across country. Marijuana moved West to East, with East coast buyers paying a premium. Especially with less inventory due to the feds. She could have been familiar with other dealers no one was aware of and given she presented well, young college student, could be a good candidate for cross-country delivery. She would have kept this quiet. She could have had more connections than the lower level dealers in Tucson.
I am guessing Laurie went out of state, with the intent to return. There is the rental car, that could have been returned to the apartments after she disappeared. What I am guessing is she drove to a property/house somewhere within that 21ish mile radius with the rental car/weed. From there, she (either alone/with someone) transferred weed to another vehicle. This vehicle was used for a cross country run. Something occurred on that delivery run. Most likely random robbery, setup, or failed deal. She never returned and is not in AZ. At some point, once it was realized something occurred, who ever she was working for, returned that rental car to close the loop. I am guessing that car sat for awhile where it was, possibly in a garage or barn before it's return.
There is also a possibility after meeting at a rendezvous site, she flew out to collect weed somewhere. Private airport/strip or Phoenix airport. Wearing glasses can in itself be a bit of a disguise. On return something sinister occurred. I think searching for her outside the state is not unreasonable.
Discussing Laurie in this UID thread. Family, do you recognize any jewelry?
PA - PA - Perry Co, Rte 322, WhtFem 15-38, 11UFPA, turquoise jewelry, clothes, Jun'79
After over a year, the NamUs file of this Jane Doe has been modified. The number of exclusions remain the same - 68, but it says 69 because a missing person was added twice.
www.websleuths.com
Caring1
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I have submitted Laurie and UP5166 for review as a potential match. I have corresponded with the Perry County, PA ME. He has responded and confirmed receipt of the information and is going to review this further.
LucyOso
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Awesome! Thank you!
HmmMysterious
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Laurie has been ruled out as UP1566 AKA Perry County Jane Doe
Hello everyone, I am Laurie's sister. Today is her birthday, she would be 69 today. I haven't logged into this forum for a long time, and I'm not quite able to follow what is going on here, but I thought I could clarify a couple things. The ring that Laurie is wearing in one of the pics of her, wasn't present when she disappeared. She was wearing a sapphire and diamond ring that I had given to her as she was leaving that night to "go run an errand". The ring on her finger in the pic is from at least 4 years before she disappeared.
Next, I cannot imagine how or why she would end up in Perry County, PA ME. Is this Maine or Pennsylvania? She disappeared in the remote desert outside of Tucson, AZ.
For anyone who has been following the details of her disappearance, the only people we know that would know or could have contributed any information in locating her, are all deceased. Greg Chandler who is the last person we know who saw her, as he was helping her load bales of mexican weed in her rental car, passed away this year in Tucson. Her boyfriend at the time of her disappearance who is/was absolutely not a suspect, but a source of a great deal of information, as he had a photographic memory, passed away in Chicago a year or 3 ago. Unfortunately, the investigators didn't really reach out to him. I think if they had, and given him any credibility, we might have gotten somewhere. And lastly, the landlord who we had always felt confident was 100% involved, Lee Mast passed away a decade or so ago. There's a guy named Paul something, I can't remember, was as business partner of both Greg's and Lee. If he is still living, and in Tucson, and doesn't have dementia, he might possibly offer some info. I think he has to know what happened. And the Tucson police have hius contact info.
Both of our parents are now deceased, mom passed in July this year, and dad passed in July 2018. Thank you for keeping her in your hearts. It's been 46 years.
I lost touch with the sleuths and have since moved back to NM where we all grew up.
Kari Rasmason
krasmason@gmail.com
LucyOso
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Hi Kari! Thank you for posting. Happy belated Birthday Laurie! Sorry for the loss of your mom this year.