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

[VanillaRose]

I thought that some where it said that they used his work clothes for the scent?

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.

 

[anonypotomous]

I'm curious WHY he was at either one of those places and whether or not he was alone.

1.) Possibly met up with someone at location one, where the IG photo was taken, then went either willingly or unwillingly to the construction site where his car was found. Maybe someone he met online? Maybe someone he counseled in the past? Things went sideways somehow. I get a possible Blaze Bernstein vibe here. Maybe. ??

2.) If he was alone and it was indeed an accident, and no one else was involved, why in the world was he there? Seems a strange place to go. Private road and totally off the beaten path. Being there had to be intentional - but why?

Can someone post a timeline? I know that Life360 app can track where you are all day and what time you were at each location.



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[cluciano63]

Was anything stolen from him? He seemingly was not beaten. What motive would anyone have murder him by drowning? I am guessing there were no signs of him being held under water. I really can’t see this as a murder at this point, if there were no signs of anyone else being there or other injuries to his body but jmo.

 

[Lamima]

If he knew his parents could see where he was on that life360 app then I would think he would not be just hanging out at these places for some sort of partying or shenanigans knowing he'd have to explain to his folks. And if he was going there to dump his car in the water and then disappear, he would not have his cell for his parents to track him.

So leads me to three theories....
foul play
suicide with staging to look like foul play
staging to look like he was victim of foul play but he intended to disappear(and it went badly and resulted in his death)

JMOO

 

[rsd1200]

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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Nope, it won't stop bad things from happening. I was in IT for years. I started in the era when PCs operated on two 5 1/4 floppies, COBOL was cool, and Mainframes took up an entire room. Tech moves fast!

I was walking the streets of Memphis...literally, to find a BBQ joint, and noted that there were 360° cameras in several areas around there. I've seen them in other places too. Our main vehicle has GPS and we log in most trips. LE can have the mfgr pull that content from your vehicle's GPS. The auto companies usually require a warrant, I think.

I grew up during a time when phones had cords and folks still had party lines. Some folks here still had an active party line til the mid 90s. I can drive about five miles and I lose service. We tell family when we're going out of town, and we call when we arrive at our destination. We usually call/text/Messenger to check about the critters while gone too. Those all leave digital footprints out there.

I know they were distressed and likely barely holding it together, but, "it's an app we use to track him". No shade toward the parents, and their personal family choices, if they felt they needed Life360 to track B, I'm sure they had their reasons, and same if anyone else wants to use the app. It's just not for me. The only one I use, that's remotely similar, is the one that remembers where I parked my car. I use it at big festivals... Love that app. I'd be wandering in fields, til everyone else left, otherwise.

 

[joybell]

.... at this point.... i'm going to stand STILL AND QUIET..... i believe there is alot more that is known than LE is letting on..... in saying all that... we all can agree on one thing..... SOMETHING WENT WAY WRONG..... i sure want to say alot of prayers for his family....joybell

 

[rsd1200]

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?

I've been pondering that too. From the link, I believe this is the home, that may still be under construction. Some folks don't really realize that a lot of homes are "owned' prior to completion. Such as, the builder owns the home, til complete, then sells the home. Might he have known someone working on the home? Picked them up at Farragut, and they went by there?

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news...-college-student-confirm-his-death/312100002/

 

[Dalebecky1]

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.

I specifically heard on the police scanner they used his work clothes from that day for the dogs as the scent article. The shoe found at the car scene may have been used as well. Seems to me that they had newly soiled clothing from him so his scent should have been easily detectable. Plus his scent was found at the lake scene where he took the pic.

 

[eucalyptuz]

I've been pondering that too. From the link, I believe this is the home, that may still be under construction. Some folks don't really realize that a lot of homes are "owned' prior to completion. Such as, the builder owns the home, til complete, then sells the home. Might he have known someone working on the home? Picked them up at Farragut, and they went by there?

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news...-college-student-confirm-his-death/312100002/

Google Earth has more recent imagery than Google maps and I was able to find the build site with a near-completed house in a more recent view from Oct 2017. You can even guess where the press photo of the house may have been taken from along E Topside Rd...

(click for bigger view)*
From this shot we can see how close the water is and how, even though there are neighbors quite close, that the house is the only residence on a isolated cul de sac. I think one would have to have prior knowledge of this location to end up here.
Full property records are viewable on the Tennessee state property appraisal website: it was sold in 2014 without this house so construction has started after that date: http://www.assessment.cot.tn.gov/RE_Assessment/

ETA: *if someone could tell me how to embed a larger image I would be grateful...It used to happen automatically but now all I get are clickable thumbnails...

 

[ElementalLaura]

That house would probably have landscaping put in after construction. Maybe Weedman was going to do the landscaping.

And Blake had an off-campus job at Weedman. I'm going to speculate that it might be a double-entendre having little to do with the landscapers predilection for eradicating noxious flora. Blake may have had more going on in his personal life that could be tracked from afar.

 

[rsd1200]

I'm curious WHY he was at either one of those places and whether or not he was alone.

1.) Possibly met up with someone at location one, where the IG photo was taken, then went either willingly or unwillingly to the construction site where his car was found. Maybe someone he met online? Maybe someone he counseled in the past? Things went sideways somehow. I get a possible Blaze Bernstein vibe here. Maybe. ??

2.) If he was alone and it was indeed an accident, and no one else was involved, why in the world was he there? Seems a strange place to go. Private road and totally off the beaten path. Being there had to be intentional - but why?

Can someone post a timeline? I know that Life360 app can track where you are all day and what time you were at each location.



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I did not follow the BB case, but, I have wondered.

B left his job at WeedMan Lawn at 2pm
It is said that the photo at Farragut Park was taken shortly after he left his job.

There's been conflicting stories about if he returned to the dorm or not.

It is only 8.5 miles between Weed Man and Farragut Park.

If he left WeedMan at 2p.m., as was stated, & went to Crown College first, that is approx. a 13 mile drive (20ish minutes)

If the above is the case, it is said he "stopped at his dorm" and then left Crown College.

From Crown College, to Admiral Farragut Park (AFP), it is right at a 19 mile drive (28 minutes).

So that would put him at AFP, closer to 3:30-4:00. (It is said that the photo was taken not long after B left work)

From AFP, the vehicle shows up, on Life360, at a residential site, on Ballards Way, late Saturday night (before 2 a.m., Sunday).

It is right at 7.0 miles (10 minute drive) from AFP to Ballards Way.

Where was he between that time period between AFP and Ballards Way? Wouldn't the Life 360 app show that?

I can't find where anyone has said that they saw him stop in at the college though. I guess that could be normal though. Every thing states that the last time that he was seen, was leaving work, at Weed Man.

Sorry if this is a bit scrambled but the sequence makes no sense to me if he's that close to AFP, from work. I guess he could've just run up to Crown College, emailed his Dad his taxes, and darted back out.

The photo at AFP does not stand out to me as something pleasing to the eye either. I'm a photo buff and there's just nothing eye about it that stands out. It's kind of a depressing photo. His public profile selfies didn't look especially happy, but some folks don't take the greatest selfies. Raises hand...

Could someone else have taken the photo? Planning to throw folks off to look in the wrong location? They'd not know about the app. The destruction to the car seems like someone was angry. If LE didn't find it til Monday, they'd think as the parents did at first, that it had been stolen. Of course he may have just seen something in the photo that I don't, and just snapped it.

stopped by his dorm
https://coed.com/2018/02/07/blake-smith-crowns-college-student-found-dead-info-details-updates/

 

[eucalyptuz]

That house would probably have landscaping put in after construction. Maybe Weedman was going to do the landscaping.

And Blake had an off-campus job at Weedman. I'm going to speculate that it might be a double-entendre having little to do with the landscapers predilection for eradicating noxious flora. Blake may have had more going on in his personal life that could be tracked from afar.

From what I can gather, Weed Man only takes care of maintenance, fertilizer and pest control and installation. From the press photo it seems that the new build does not have turf installed yet so it might be premature to schedule maintenance already?

From Blake's sermon that was posted upthread, he did mention having worked lots of odd jobs so perhaps he did some general laboring on the site clearing or build?

 

[eucalyptuz]

I did not follow the BB case, but, I have wondered.

B left his job at WeedMan Lawn at 2pm
It is said that the photo at Farragut Park was taken shortly after he left his job.

There's been conflicting stories about if he returned to the dorm or not.

...snipped

Most press state he did return to the dorm...only a few early SM posts said not. Also the clothes that he had been wearing earlier that day were retrieved from his dorm for the search dogs to use for scent so I think we can assume he did make it back.

 

[rsd1200]

Google Earth has more recent imagery than Google maps and I was able to find the build site with a near-completed house in a more recent view from Oct 2017. You can even guess where the press photo of the house may have been taken from along E Topside Rd...

(click for bigger view)*
From this shot we can see how close the water is and how, even though there are neighbors quite close, that the house is the only residence on a isolated cul de sac. I think one would have to have prior knowledge of this location to end up here.
Full property records are viewable on the Tennessee state property appraisal website: it was sold in 2014 without this house so construction has started after that date: http://www.assessment.cot.tn.gov/RE_Assessment/

ETA: *if someone could tell me how to embed a larger image I would be grateful...It used to happen automatically but now all I get are clickable thumbnails...

I've been studying the Google Earth Map but had been having a bit of trouble finding their "assessment" site. Thanks for that! Interesting! It's a pretty new home.

I usually take a screenshot of the photo, then use my photo software to crop it, and upload. It usually works pretty good that way.

The way the back deck sets, it really looks to me like they were going to try and shoot that car into the water, and messed up. I don't see anything that he could have run it into to have all the dents get on it, and the mirrors knocked off, unless he ran off the road getting there and then forged onward. Doesn't explain the block though. Leaving the door open, if it was the passenger side, they may have been hoping that when the car hit the water, the block would fly loose and no one would be the wiser. Rambling now...

 

[MissUnderstood]

Would Blake’s family know more than police? Or by stating they know more than anyone they mean people in general? Moo


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[Auntisemantic]

"Smith’s family members strongly disagreed with classifying his death as an accident.

“There is inaccurate information going around about Blake’s death, please know that his family knows more about what happened than anyone, no matter what the ‘source’ is,” Smith’s aunt Jill Williams said. His family was there with each search and lead. It is an on going investigation and we can not comment at this time. If you saw, what his family saw, you would understand. We can say it was not accidental and foul play was involved.”

On Tuesday, Williams indicated that Blake Smith’s father, Jim Smith, planned to discuss the accidental classification with Berrong."
http://www.trussvilletribune.com/2018/02/07/investigation-into-blake-smiths-death-will-continue/

 

[calvinshobbes]

I keep going back to what his father said:
“He had a positive outlook, and morally we never had a problem with him.”

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news...-student-family-suspects-foul-play/306318002/

Does that imply there was some other personal issues they went through? Maybe there was some mental illness or some other health issues? It seems the whole family is very religious but to mention there wasn’t any moral problems seemed odd. Why not just say no problems at all.

 

[mrsNKY]

I've not seen that about the W2s, and I've heard conflicting stories about going back to the dorm. I must have gotten behind. I've never once inferred that this was a suicide though.

Here is the link to the video that explains this. I believe this is the correct one.

https://www.knoxnews.com/videos/new...ents-missing-crown-college-student/110120836/

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[Auntisemantic]

Would Blake’s family know more than police? Or by stating they know more than anyone they mean people in general? Moo


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I found that odd, too. See my post below. So, the family was allowed to go on the leads with LE? They apparently saw things that lead them (family) to believe it was foul play.
I still think it was suicide.
He knows his family best. I think he went out of his way to keep them from finding out he ended his own life. Jmo

 

[flute4peace]

I keep going back to what his father said:
“He had a positive outlook, and morally we never had a problem with him.”

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news...-student-family-suspects-foul-play/306318002/

Does that imply there was some other personal issues they went through? Maybe there was some mental illness or some other health issues? It seems the whole family is very religious but to mention there wasn’t any moral problems seemed odd. Why not just say no problems at all.

I hope it's ok to say this, I mean no disrespect, just giving a potential explanation/context for the terminology.

If they are deep into the fundamentalist world, that figure of speech is likely more common than would be seen in more mainstream society. Having followed several fundie families, it's not a surprise to me to hear him say that - especially if there are rumblings of alternative tendencies going around.

JMHO

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