Found Deceased TN - Blake Smith, 20, Knoxville, 3 Feb 2018

[neesaki]

Late coming on thread, but, I just read that there was a cinder block on the gas peddle? Doesn’t sound like it was accidental , jmo.

 

[Gardener1850]

Anybody want to chime in with their "Occam's razor" interpretation of everything we know so far?

FWIW, the statistics show the leading cause of death for his age group is "unintentional injury". Here's a chart from the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/injury/images/lc-charts/leading_causes_of_death_age_group_2015_1050w740h.gif
I'm not saying that fits with what we know, but there must be a reason LE would come to that conclusion initially. :thinking: :dunno:

 

[Dalebecky1]

Has anyone seen them specify which kind of dogs were used for the searches?

Rescue dogs Im pretty positive because I was on the scanner and heard them say that he changed out of his Weed Man Lawncare clothes after work and those were the clothes they were using for the dogs and nobody at that time could determine what clothes he was wearing at the time of his disappearance.

 

[BrutusBuckeye]

I think the 'stuck in the mud' accidental theory makes some sense. Maybe he crashed his car, got it stuck in the mud, panics like any kid would (mostly if tough to explain what he was doing there or drugs were involved). Like others have said, maybe uses the cinder block to help get it unstuck & either the car forces him into the water or he is so distraught after his car then hits the house that he takes his own life?

 

[eucalyptuz]

Things that are puzzling:
-I think the dog information about no scent of Blake at car scene made it's way to the media from the family's comments and I can't find LE in MSM verifying this.
-If MOD is accidental, does this mean that Blake was alone at the car scene? If so and the MOD is 'accidental' that would mean that whatever was going on with the car was done by Blake, because surely if there was proof otherwise, prints and evidence would be collected and there would not be such and early finding...even a tentatively-worded finding.
-Have police had enough time to truly process the scene/vehicle/witnesses/autopsy info to even go near a MOD?

 

[Dalebecky1]

If MOD is accidental why would he have to been alone at the car scene?? I'm sure there have been numerous deaths ruled accidental where people were around to witness the accident. Especially if drinking or drugs is present.

 

[eucalyptuz]

If MOD is accidental why would he have to been alone at the car scene?? I'm sure there have been numerous deaths ruled accidental where people were around to witness the accident. Especially if drinking or drugs is present.

Because if he wasn't alone and there are witnesses saying he walked off towards the water after trashing his car, surely the police need more than 24 hours to process statements and gather evidence to see if the whole 'accidental' scenario holds water. Just gathering prints from the car, trying to find CCTV footage in and out of the location etc would take days.

 

[rsd1200]

The link below, shows, in the photos, what I believe to be, the home with the deck construction. There were dents on the car, the parents said that doors, plural, were open, no blood, and his things were strewn about the car but his wallet and phone were there. So, not a robbery. Could he nave picked up someone(s) at Farragut, and went to Ballards Way, someone who may have had access to the home, under construction? I wonder if they checked the home for B's scent? Maybe, at some point, one of the someone(s) had become infuriated, and took something from the site and began beating B's car.

If you look at the photos, it would be a tumble if you went down some of these banks, however, it doesn't look so deep at the edges, and there also seems to be a smooth bank, around the brush line. So, it seems it would be hard to fall directly into deep water, and drown.

I think that the cinder block might have been placed, with the intention of shooting the car over into the water, but that just didn't go as planned.

If there were more than one someone there, who'd followed them out there, and they'd been drinking, or took something, and B had too much, they could have gotten scared, thought he was deceased, and put him in the water to make it look like he'd got drunk and fell in.

Why leave the car running with the cinder block on the pedal though? That looks more like a jerry-rig to get his car unstuck...

Quote from a friend:

Some people close to Smith have lingering questions about what happened. They're hoping for information will be revealed soon.


"He had some struggles in his life, but I never thought he would do anything like take his life or anything like that," friend Jeff Gibbs said.

Doors open, home pic
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news...-student-family-suspects-foul-play/306318002/

Friend quote,
http://www.wbir.com/article/news/lo...-accidental-sheriffs-office-says/51-514827106

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

Innocent, not snarky, question: how could HIS scent not have been detected in HIS car?

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

Friend quote,
http://www.wbir.com/article/news/lo...-accidental-sheriffs-office-says/51-514827106

RSBM: <ears perk> at the friend's quote. ("He had some struggles in his life, but I never thought he would do anything like take his life or anything like that," friend Jeff Gibbs said.)

Ummm...

 

[VanillaRose]

It said outside of his car, not inside of it.

Innocent, not snarky, question: how could HIS scent not have been detected in HIS car?

 

[inmyhumbleopinion]

“Questions remain in 'accidental' death of Crown College student Blake Smith”

“BCSO spokeswoman Marian O'Briant said she could not answer specific questions about the autopsy report and referred questions to the Blount County Medical Examiner's Office and Knox County Regional Forensic Center.

‘That's their word, not ours,’ O'Briant said of the use of the word ‘accidental.’ She said she could not provide a general definition of what would qualify as an accidental death.

Authorities have not said whether there were any witnesses to the death or if Smith was believed to have been with anyone at the time of his death.

The 20-year-old aspiring pastor and college junior from Trussville, Alabama, was last seen Saturday afternoon after he left work at Weed Man Lawn Care. His family has said they suspect foul play in his death, citing the strange circumstances under which his car was found.

The vehicle was wrecked into a construction site on a private dirt road off East Old Topside Road in Louisville, according to the sheriff's office.

Smith's family has said two of his friends initially found his car still running, with a cinder block on the gas pedal, damage to the doors and mirrors and belongings strewn about outside the car. His cell phone and wallet were still in the car.

The sheriff's office has not confirmed all of those details the family gave about the car, and O'Briant said Wednesday she could not comment beyond what has been put out in news releases this week.

Investigators at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center and Blount County Medical Examiner's Office declined to comment.

Smith's parents, Kim and Jim Smith, did not answer a phone call Wednesday morning and his aunt, Jill Williams, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

"I know you want answers and we want them too," O'Briant said. "We're following up on all the leads that are coming in. I just can't answer specific questions right now. Our investigators are working their butts off trying to get this closed." [BBM]

More at link: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2018/02/07/blake-smith-crown-college-student-d/315775002/

 

[eucalyptuz]

Crown College staff, students remember Blake Smith during chapel service

POWELL, Tenn. (WATE) - Around 1,000 Crown College students gathered Wednesday to pray for Blake Smith's family and to remember the kind and Godly man he was.

Smith was found dead Monday after having been reported missing. An investigation into his death is still underway, but a preliminary autopsy report said it appeared accidental.

Clarence Sexton, the founder and president of Crown College, says he is trying to help his students by leading them to God for comfort.

"I'm just trying to minister to our student body," said Sexton. "They loved and respected Blake and now with so many unanswered questions about his death I feel like we have to come to the things that bring assurance, things we know."

Classmate and friend Daniel Mawson says Smith was a good person to be around.

"He was a really nice guy," said Mawson. "He had a ton of friends. No one really had any problems with him. He's a really, really, great guy. Everybody loved him. He was just a person that you always want to be around."

Mawson says he and Smith had several classes together as Smith studied to be a preacher. He says he and his fellow students look to the bible for comfort and find peace in the lord.

"You can sense a lot of people are just down and discouraged about it," said Mawson. "I think there is a spirit of God's going to do something with this. You know, everything happens for a reason and so we've just got to hold to that."

Sexton says the school plans to have a formal memorial service for Smith, but they want to wait until his family, home church and hometown have a chance to do theirs first.

http://www.wate.com/news/local-news...r-blake-smith-during-chapel-service/958196558

 

[charminglane]

Was the cinder block from the construction site?

Where did it come from?

 

[GraceG]

Innocent, not snarky, question: how could HIS scent not have been detected in HIS car?

A lot depends on the quality of the item they use to establish his scent (known in trailing and tracking as the "scent article"). Anything that the missing or deceased has touched, held or been in the vicinity of might possibly be used as a scent article. In the case of a crime scene, it might be rather difficult to determine what object, if any, is relatively uncontaminated yet still solid enough to be used to target the search dog. The biggest problem occurs when the crime scene is contaminated unintentionally by those that first discovered it, or many hours have passed since the person they are searching for was present at the scene.. There's really a very small window of opportunity that typically exists in which to locate, protect, and use a person's scent to the investigator's advantage. I've worked with both search and cadaver dogs (not as a handler, simply working the scene) and what they can do is amazing but it is NOT infallible.

 

[rsd1200]

Was the cinder block from the construction site?

Where did it come from?

I'd guess that it did, or from nearby. We built over a decade ago and we have some stacked under the deck. They come in handy (no dark humor intended).

 

[rsd1200]

A lot depends on the quality of the item they use to establish his scent (known in trailing and tracking as the "scent article"). Anything that the missing or deceased has touched, held or been in the vicinity of might possibly be used as a scent article. In the case of a crime scene, it might be rather difficult to determine what object, if any, is relatively uncontaminated yet still solid enough to be used to target the search dog. The biggest problem occurs when the crime scene is contaminated unintentionally by those that first discovered it, or many hours have passed since the person they are searching for was present at the scene.. There's really a very small window of opportunity that typically exists in which to locate, protect, and use a person's scent to the investigator's advantage. I've worked with both search and cadaver dogs (not as a handler, simply working the scene) and what they can do is amazing but it is NOT infallible.

They found a shoe there. Wouldn't a shoe would be something that would carry a stronger scent, and retain the scent awhile. Also, in colder weather it would preserve scent longer I'd think.

 

[mandy.maree]

If I've got my phone and don't have time to call 911, or reach for my firearm, being a Jane Doe isn't gonna matter much. I'm deceased, either way. Working in the tech world, for so many years, has only caused me not to be drawn toward these types of gimmicks. Along with the fact that I'm an adult, well over 18 y.o. If ya'll want them? More power to ya. Peace.

Nothing is going to stop someone who has intent to kill. There are cameras everywhere these days, on everyone's phones, tracking on a lot of them.
It doesn't matter in the end if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time and come across pure evil.
What they do help to do is give family and police a place to look and hopefully find you so they have closure and hopefully arrest the person responsible!

I think the apps are a great idea. I don't want them. I feel the apps I already have will know enough smh
Unbelievable the permissions Facebook messenger requires people to agree too

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[DAnthrplgst]

Something struck me about where the car was found: it was on private property only reachable by a private road. Considering that Blake was studying to be a pastor and he went to a VERY conservative school that would lead me to believe that Blake probably had a very developed sense of morality and right/wrong. He would know it was a sin to trespass on private property. I don't think he would willingly do something like that, trespass on private property knowing it would be considered sinful. A question that popped into my head also: who owns that property?

 

[Henry2326]

Does anybody know of a case where LE has intentionally misinformed the public re manner of death? Even though there has now been some back-peddling on the SO's FB page, they did put it out there, despite so many conflicting pieces of evidence, that the death appeared accidental. Could this have been an LE strategy to flush out a perp...?!? I can't think of a case where this has actually happened. I can think of cases where incorrect information has been released, but not COD, MOD type stuff, more like mis-quoting witnesses.
In this case it seems the back-peddling by the SO has come as a result of public outcry, including the family's.

Yes.....Maggie Long.

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