CANADA Canada - Wendy Rene Smith, 29, York, On, 13 April 1995

[Romulus]

The Doe Network:
Case File 1441DFON

Wendy Rene Smith
Missing since April 13, 1995 from York, Ontario, Canada.
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics

• • Date Of Birth: August 16, 1962
  • Age at Time of Disappearance: 33 years old
  • Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3"; 122 lbs.
  • Distinguishing Characteristics: Brown hair; green eyes.
  • Marks, Scars: An earring in her left nostril. Two 5.9" scars on her left arm.
  • Clothing: A black skirt, a black sweater, and black shoes.
  • AKA: Wendy Rene Laughlin
  • Dentals: Available
  • Other: Fingerprints available.

Circumstances of Disappearance
On April 13, 1995 at 10:00 pm Wendy Smith, of Toronto started work as an exotic dancer at the Fantasia Night Club formerly located at 10097 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill. Smith was supposed to have returned to her residence after finishing work the following morning at 03:00 am, but never arrived. On April 16, 1995 Wendy Smith was reported missing by a roommate.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

York Regional Police
Homicide & Missing Persons unit
905-830-0303 ext. 7898

CPIC Number: 95-39764

NCIC Number: M-103120965
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
York Regional Police

 

[iulia]

COLD CASE: Fantasia Hotel haunts Wendy Smith's family years after closure

 

[dotr]

Poster jessica has suggested Wendy Smith in relation to this uid female..
CANADA - Canada - Eramosa Twp, Ont, WhtFem 550UFON, 25-45, off Hwy 7, Aug'05

 

[jessica-]

Wendy and the UID in Guelph ont.

The club Wendy worked at had a long history of prostitution, and many people were arrested after police searched for Wendy. The clothing found on the UID came from Montreal, which at the time had a huge prostitution ring ran by the Asian and Russian mafia. Many of these women were taken from strip clubs outside of Quebec (many came from Ontario, or strip clubs found on the boarder).

The fact that Wendy was working at a strip club known for prostitution, and was heavy into drugs, leads me to believe she would have been heavily influenced, and as a result I believe she was put in a prositution ring. The clothing from the UID was from montreal, which is where the biggest prostitution ring was held.

I could be wrong, but when I asked if Wendy had a dental plate the agency was unsure, but with facial injuries that severe I wouldn't be surprised if she indeed had one made. I know my own father who has since passed went to a under the table dentist and they filed the numbers down so they couldn't get caught, weather they were unlicensed or not who knows.

I have sent an email to the authority

 

[jessica-]

Well they sent me an email asking for my background and the journalist background....so that was really odd. Then he asked me where I got the sketch from... I feel a little attacked here, like no hello, or introduction. He just plain out said what's your background? Only way I knew what his name was is because it was in his signature...feeling very uncomfortable now.

 

[jessica-]

just an update:

"Thank you for reaching out to our Cold Case Unit. All leads and tips are followed up with and I will look into this one from you. There is a discrepancy in the photos we have on file and posted on our website, such as the obvious scarring on the face in the sketch which differs from what we have. The only scarring we have as descriptors for Wendy is to her arm. Could you provide me with the link for the article / journalist please "

Does he think the sketch I sent him is Wendy? It's the UID sketch, but he keeps saying they don't have that photo of Wendy...... I just sent an e-mail verifying that the sketch with disfiguration is "unidentified" as of now.

 

[dotr]

rbbm.
COLD CASE: Fantasia Hotel haunts Wendy Smith's family years after closure

Wendy Smith as a child.
"Growing up, Wendy was described by her older brother, Dr. Robert Smith, a forensic clinical psychologist in Alberta, as a darling child with a bit of a rebellious streak.

“She was a very sweet, freckle faced little girl with red hair, just a gorgeous little thing,” he said."

“Her jaw had to be reconstructed the jaw and eye socket had to be fused together, her jaw wired,” she said. “You could not recognize her from that side. It was pretty hard to look at. I had no idea she was an exotic dancer before that.”

It was during this visit that Betty first discovered Wendy was working as an escort. It's unclear if Wendy had a pimp at this stage, but it's alleged that she'd eventually work with one."

 

[DS94]

Hi, This is Danielle... Wendys youngest daughter.

Please help me find my mom...

I'm looking for any help I can get bringing this thread forward again. Hoping someone is willing to directly message me about this if you are able to help gather more information.

Thank you in advance

 

[dotr]

Hi, This is Danielle... Wendys youngest daughter.

Please help me find my mom...

I'm looking for any help I can get bringing this thread forward again. Hoping someone is willing to directly message me about this if you are able to help gather more information.

Thank you in advance

Welcome to Ws DS94!
Very sorry about the circumstances that brought you here, your mom was such a lovely child, truly hoping that one day soon she will be located.

 

[dotr]

Regarding the Fantasia strip club where Wendy was last seen..
Former strip club owner gets six years in prison
Mar 20, 2008
Mr. DiGiuseppe has listed his occupation as that of a yacht broker in Florida, since his strip clubs – the Fantasia on Yonge Street in Richmond Hill, and Bunnies on Markham Road in Markham – were shut down after raids in 1998.

The raids were part of a police operation called Northern Greed that culminated in raids on 16 premises related to the clubs, including a boat docked near Cherry Beach. During the raids, police scooped up more than 400 bankers’ boxes of information on the strip clubs.

A few months later, Fantasia lost its licence to operate an adult entertainment parlour. After the 1998 raids, Mr. DiGiuseppe spent 70 days in jail on bawdy house and proceeds of crime charges before getting bail. All charges against him were eventually dropped, except for one for fraud over $5,000 for not paying his federal taxes."

Arrests total 115 in prostitution-related raids: Overnight blitz by more than 200 police officers in York Region and Toronto hits 19 locations; charges confined to two strip clubs
September 12, 1998
Overnight blitz by more than 200 police officers in York Region and Toronto hits 19 locations; charges confined to two strip clubs

Major Mack Hotel in Richmond Hill and Bunnies in Markham were the only two sites where police laid prostitution-related charges in an overnight blitz on 19 locations in York Region and Toronto. Kathleen Findlay/The Globe and Mail

One hundred and fifteen people were charged with prostitution-related offences after more than 200 police officers staged an overnight blitz in York Region and Toronto.

Four police forces were involved in raids that began Thursday evening and ended early yesterday.

The five-month operation led to the arrests of 81 women and 34 men."

"A total of 19 locations were raided, but all the arrests took place at the Major Mack Hotel, also known as the Fantasia Hotel, on Yonge Street in Richmond Hill and the Bunnies club in neighbouring Markham.

At the Major Mack Hotel, 46 women and 22 men were arrested. At Bunnies the totals were 35 women and 12 men.

The exotic dancers were charged with being inmates of a common bawdy house.

Both strip clubs were open for business again last night.

The continuing investigation, in which all search warrents have been sealed, also involves allegations of extortion, assault, drugs, theft, obstruction of police and drug offences.

This was not the Fantasia club's first brush with the law. In April, 1995, 50 staff members and visitors were charged with prostitution-related offences. The Bunnies club was also known to the police."

"There's clubs in Toronto I won't dance at because of what you're expected to do," said 29-year-old LIsa (a pseudonym). "But there are a lot of new women who've come in, from Eastern Europe especially, who don't care, they just want the money."
"A woman can make enough money in two years and return to her home country and never have to work again," he said, adding that annual incomes can be $70,000.

"There still is concern about the importance of foreign girls working in those places," the police source said".

 

[photographer4]

I remember reading about Wendy several years ago - I'm just wondering if any new information has been uncovered?

 

[photographer4]

'You never know. So you just keep looking'

"At the moment, for example, he is looking into the possibility that an exotic dancer named Wendy Smith, who went missing from the Richmond Hill area 10 years ago, may have ended up at the B.C. pig farm of Robert Pickton, where dozens of missing prostitutes were allegedly murdered. Although more than 25 women have been identified from DNA samples taken from the farm, some samples remain unidentified, and Det. Gore, for reasons he refuses to make public, believes Ms. Smith could be one of them.

On the face of it, solving the mystery should be relatively simple. Det. Gore has learned that a hospital had processed a Pap smear taken from Ms. Smith shortly before her disappearance, and wants to match the DNA on it to the sample from the Pickton farm. But the hospital has refused to release the sample, citing patient confidentiality, even though Ms. Smith's family has authorized its release.

"To get it, I need to prove she's dead," Det. Gore says. "But I can't prove she's dead without the sample."

I wonder what happened with that? Was Det Gore ever able to get what he needed from the hospital that did the pap smear for Wendy??

 

[dotr]

Wendy Rene Smith - York Regional Police

FILE No.: 1995-39764
''For Wendy Rene Smith, April 13, 1995 marked her very first shift at Fantasia, a Richmond Hill adult night club. Sadly, it was also the last night anybody saw her alive.

The 33-year-old exotic dancer started work at the club, located at 10097 Yonge St., at 10 p.m. Wendy was supposed to return to her Toronto home the next morning at 3 a.m., but she never arrived. Three days later, on April 16, 1995, her roommate reported her missing.

Wendy had brown hair, green eyes and a nosering; she was 5'3" and weighed about 120 pounds. She was last seen at the night club wearing a black skirt, black sweater and black shoes.

At times, Wendy also went by the last name Laughlin.

Do you know about Wendy Rene Smith's disappearance?
Do you have information about Wendy Rene Smith? Can you help solve this case?

If so, please contact the York Regional Police Cold Case Unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7865 or email the investigators directly. Want to remain anonymous? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, leave a tip online at www.1800222tips.com or text a tip by sending TIPYORK and a message to CRIMES (274637).''

 

[photographer4]

Wendy Rene Smith - York Regional Police

FILE No.: 1995-39764
''For Wendy Rene Smith, April 13, 1995 marked her very first shift at Fantasia, a Richmond Hill adult night club. Sadly, it was also the last night anybody saw her alive.

The 33-year-old exotic dancer started work at the club, located at 10097 Yonge St., at 10 p.m. Wendy was supposed to return to her Toronto home the next morning at 3 a.m., but she never arrived. Three days later, on April 16, 1995, her roommate reported her missing.

Wendy had brown hair, green eyes and a nosering; she was 5'3" and weighed about 120 pounds. She was last seen at the night club wearing a black skirt, black sweater and black shoes.

At times, Wendy also went by the last name Laughlin.

Do you know about Wendy Rene Smith's disappearance?
Do you have information about Wendy Rene Smith? Can you help solve this case?

If so, please contact the York Regional Police Cold Case Unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7865 or email the investigators directly. Want to remain anonymous? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, leave a tip online at www.1800222tips.com or text a tip by sending TIPYORK and a message to CRIMES (274637).''

So I spent awhile researching this case today... did you know that there is no record of her ever having arrived at the Fantasia place that night according to the article? She wasn't even reported missing til three days after some older man described as caring said he'd dropped her off. So who was the guy who dropped her on off and reported her missing three days later??

I'm thinking this poor woman was probably gone before she was "dropped off at Fantasia" in April. I know she apparently attended a visit with her daughter at Toronto CAS in Feb 1995... so when was actually last seen, where and by whom?? I'm about to call bull on the story she was going to her first night of work at Fantasia.

This is a great article that references everything I just posted for those interested: COLD CASE: Fantasia Hotel haunts Wendy Smith's family years after closure

 

[photographer4]

Its concerning that so far, I've not been able to find any articles about Wendy from around the time she went missing at all. When she was reported missing, it doesn't seem as though the news media got involved at all really! I couldn't find anything about her in the news at all until years later!

 

[dotr]

Wendy Rene Smith - York Regional Police

www.yrp.ca

​

FILE No.: 1995-39764​

For Wendy Rene Smith, April 13, 1995 marked her very first shift at Fantasia, a Richmond Hill adult night club. Sadly, it was also the last night anybody saw her alive.

The 33-year-old exotic dancer started work at the club, located at 10097 Yonge St., at 10 p.m. Wendy was supposed to return to her Toronto home the next morning at 3 a.m., but she never arrived. Three days later, on April 16, 1995, her roommate reported her missing.

Wendy had brown hair, green eyes and a nosering; she was 5'3" and weighed about 120 pounds. She was last seen at the night club wearing a black skirt, black sweater and black shoes.

At times, Wendy also went by the last name Laughlin.

Do you know about Wendy Rene Smith's disappearance?​

Do you have information about Wendy Rene Smith? Can you help solve this case?
If so, please contact the York Regional Police Cold Case Unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. 7865 or email the investigators directly. Want to remain anonymous? Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, leave a tip online at www.1800222tips.com or text a tip by sending TIPYORK and a message to CRIMES (274637).

​

 

[Bit of hope]

https://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/WSPL/WSPL000104364p0003f.pdf An artikel of 1999 where people associated with the Fantasia Club are mentioned by name in an arrest. If Wendy ever arrived at the club, could they have more information/know more?

Did somebody find the actual artikel about the raid in April 1995. It's mentioned here Arrests total 115 in prostitution-related raids: Overnight blitz by more than 200 police officers in York Region and Toronto hits 19 locations; charges confined to two strip clubs

This was not the Fantasia club's first brush with the law. In April, 1995, 50 staff members and visitors were charged with prostitution-related offences.

I would very much like to know on what date this happened, because Wendy went missing in April, 1995.

 

[dotr]

• Updated Feb 15, 2023
• 

  COLD CASE: Fantasia Hotel haunts Wendy Smith's family years after closure

  On April 13, 1995 Wendy Renee Smith was dropped off at Richmond Hill’s Fantasia Hotel for her first-ever shift at the seedy strip club. Three days later she was reported

  www.toronto.com
• ''It was on April 13, 1995 that Wendy went for her first-ever shift at Richmond Hill’s Fantasia Hotel, a seedy strip club formerly located at 10097 Yonge St., in Richmond Hill.''

''Fantasia was not only a strip joint but also a place where prostitution was conducted, according to police.

Although it’s not clear on which day, in April 1995 The Globe and Mail reported that 50 staff and visitors were charged with prostitution-related offences.

Three years later there were 46 women and 22 men arrested in a separate raid.''

• 
• 

''