WA WA - Shantina Smiley, 29, & Azriel Carver, 8 (fnd deceased), Olympia, Mar 2010 - #1

[PaulR]

RS claims she told him she was in Olympia when she called at 6:45. During the phone call police say he never answered.

Has there been any other article that stated that he had not answered the phone? I've only seen the one, which makes me wonder if the reporter screwed up.

This article, for instance, says the Sheriff said she called, doesn't say he didn't answer: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000562-504083.html

 

[Calliope]

BBM:

Shantina Smiley: Mom Suffered Alcoholic Relapse Before Disappearing With Son
Smiley's Last Hours Before Disappearance Showed Bizarre, Erratic Behavior

By EMILY FRIEDMAN and SARAH NETTER
March 17, 2010

The bizarre behavior of a Washington mother who disappeared Saturday with her young son came just days after she suffered an apparent alcoholic relapse.

The worries of Shantina Smiley's fiance are fueled by concerns that the recovering alcoholic has slid back into addiction just days before she vanished on her way to visit her stepfather.

"I don't know how I'm able to keep going right now," Robb Simmons told "Good Morning America" today.

Simmons said he last talked to Smiley Saturday afternoon before she and her 8-year-old son Azriel Carver set out for her stepfather's home, about two hours away.

"She said she's getting ready to hit the road and I said 'Okay I'll see you on the road,'" Simmons said. He expected to catch with them so they could drive down together, but he never saw them again.
............................

[Snipped]



more here

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/TheLaw/shantina-smiley-suffered-alcoholic-replase-fiance/story?id=10122149

After several years, Shantina had made contact with her Step Father in Castle Rock. We had planned to go down and visit them.

I had Cub Scout Training that was planned to finish at 6:30

Shantina called me twice around 4:15 to let me know she was heading out. I asked her grab my phone charger, since my phone was near dead.

My training wrapped up at 4:30, I figured that she was already on the road heading to Castle Rock, so I proceeds to Castle Rock as well

I stopped in Toldeo-Vader to make quick repair, when she called me at 6:45 from a phone. She asked me if I could grab her phone, because she had left. I let her know where I was at. She was in the Olympia area, but wasn’t quite sure of where, Azriel was hungry, so she pulled off. She made complaint of being in the traffic. She gave me the destination address and told me she would be there shortly.

http://robbsimmons.com/

Forgetting for a moment that he lied about talking to her at 6:45....

He says he thought he could 'catch' her on the road and they'd ride down together. So he obviously knew the session was wrapping up when she called at 4:15. Why not tell her to hang on for a few more minutes? Why have to worry about where to store his cycle along the way while they continue on in the van?

Or.

I suppose he can claim he didn't know the session was close to ending and he expected to get out at 6:30. What made him think he could "catch" her on the interstate when she had a 2 1/4 hour lead to a destination that was 2 hours away?

IF he was thinking he could "catch" her on the road, then he clearly knew the session was drawing to a close and he'd be leaving soon when she called at 4:15 . But it's also clear he didn't tell her this. Otherwise, why would she call at 6:45 to tell him to bring her cell? If he told her "I'll see you on the road" when she called at 4:15 heading out on a 2 hour trip, why would she even bother to call him at 6:45, indicating that she believed that he hadn't left at that time?

 

[Calliope]

I've seen 2 different views of them in a store. One, she walks in, smiles and then just stands there. Az tries to hand her something, and she just stands there. The other shows a brief shot of her at the counter. Is this the same store?? Looks like the same clerk..

Yeah, there several views of them entering the store and going to the counter. The clerk seems to be showing her a map.

 

[Calliope]

Her in the gas station/convenience store? You didn't think she looked "impaired"? :waitasec:

Not at all. What specifically leads you to believe she was?

 

[Calliope]

Has there been any other article that stated that he had not answered the phone? I've only seen the one, which makes me wonder if the reporter screwed up.

This article, for instance, says the Sheriff said she called, doesn't say he didn't answer: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20000562-504083.html

Investigators have determined that Shantina left Silverdale at 5 p.m. Saturday. At 6:45 p.m. she called her boyfriend from a pay phone asking him to get her cell phone, but he didn't answer, Mealy said.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/87628727.html

 

[SuziQ]

Calliope, where are you going with your suspicion of the fiance? How did he do anything to Smiley and her son when he was an hour away the entire time this all went down? He was with someone else the entire time.

 

[BeanE]

Well last night I thought the search of the water with the sonar device was going to be today, but according to this video, they did that yesterday.

Good explanation in the video of how the sonar works. Also shows them fingerprinting the van, and some of the items they found in the van.

Video: http://www.kirotv.com/video/22860169/index.html

So if they already did the sonar, and the dive teams, and they were saying as of last night that no new searches are planned, what are they doing? Just going to wait for their bodies to surface from the water?

This is just making me cry.

If anyone finds anything on new searches today, ground, water, air, anything, would you please post links? I will keep checking too.

TIA
BeanE

 

[SuziQ]

IMO, this was a set of circumstances that led to a tragic accident. Or Smiley accepted help from the wrong person. I'd hate to see this thread get stuck on the fiance and ignore the more likely scenarios.

 

[SuziQ]

BeanE, that is so sad. I worry so much about the little boy. I was hoping to hear about searches in the nearby woods or something.

 

[Calliope]

Calliope, where are you going with your suspicion of the fiance? How did he do anything to Smiley and her son when he was an hour away the entire time this all went down? He was with someone else the entire time.

Like I said above, he may not have had anything directly to do with her disappearance, but I don't believe he's being up front with LE (and the media). Too much of what he's been saying is inconsistent and just doesn't make any sense.

In any case, being elsewhere does not preclude him having a hand in this. Whatever *this* is.

 

[justice77]

I wonder if it has been determined that she did take luggage/bags with clothing etc. with her? Did she in fact have a purse with her? Who could answer that? Her fiance? His daughter?

You would think if she took clothing with her she would have also taken a toothbrush. So the fiance or his daughter could have someone check the house to see if the toothbrushes are missing. If so then it would be a high probability that she had an overnight bag with her.

 

[Texas Mist]

Well last night I thought the search of the water with the sonar device was going to be today, but according to this video, they did that yesterday.

Good explanation in the video of how the sonar works. Also shows them fingerprinting the van, and some of the items they found in the van.

Video: http://www.kirotv.com/video/22860169/index.html

So if they already did the sonar, and the dive teams, and they were saying as of last night that no new searches are planned, what are they doing? Just going to wait for their bodies to surface from the water?

This is just making me cry.

If anyone finds anything on new searches today, ground, water, air, anything, would you please post links? I will keep checking too.

TIA
BeanE

Still looking for info on LE searching...can't even find if they're planning to continue the helicopter search -- but found this

Lancaster father joins search for missing son
By Lou Michel
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: March 17, 2010, 6:33 am / 0 comments
Published: March 17, 2010, 12:30 am

A Lancaster father headed to Olympia, Wash., on Tuesday to help in the search for his 8-year-old son and the boy’s mother, according to local relatives.

Azriel Carver and his mother, Shantina Smiley, have been missing since Saturday night, authorities said. Their minivan was found Sunday under mysterious circumstances, partially submerged off a remote Puget Sound beach.

Jed Carver, the 32-year-old father, had recently re-established relations with his son and Smiley, his former girlfriend, from whom he had been estranged since their child was 2 years old, Carver’s family said.

“There’s a lot of questions and no answers,” said Dana Carver, Jed Carver’s sister. “He’s flying out to Seattle, and then he has a 90-minute drive to Olympia where he will meet Shantina’s fiance and help search for them.”

http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/03/17/990094/lancaster-father-joins-search.html

 

[Chili Fries]

Well last night I thought the search of the water with the sonar device was going to be today, but according to this video, they did that yesterday.

Good explanation in the video of how the sonar works. Also shows them fingerprinting the van, and some of the items they found in the van.

Video: http://www.kirotv.com/video/22860169/index.html

So if they already did the sonar, and the dive teams, and they were saying as of last night that no new searches are planned, what are they doing? Just going to wait for their bodies to surface from the water?

This is just making me cry.

If anyone finds anything on new searches today, ground, water, air, anything, would you please post links? I will keep checking too.

TIA
BeanE

There's probably nothing more they can do. I read an article that said the currents in the channel there, off Dana Point, can be very strong when the tides are changing. We've had quite a few cases recently in much smaller bodies of water and sometimes it does take time for the body to be discovered. Hopefully that's not what we are dealing with here but it can be a reality.

 

[BOZGAL]

Like I said above, he may not have had anything directly to do with her disappearance, but I don't believe he's being up front with LE (and the media). Too much of what he's been saying is inconsistent and just doesn't make any sense.

In any case, being elsewhere does not preclude him having a hand in this. Whatever *this* is.

And we all know in these and other cases, what inconsistent statements end up meaning. I'm sorry but the phone calls and the early ending of his meeting makes my hinky meter go off. Maybe I have been following cases too long.

JMO

 

[PaulR]

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/87628727.html

Did you read my statement before the quote:

Has there been any other article that stated that he had not answered the phone? I've only seen the one, which makes me wonder if the reporter screwed up.

I mean no offense, but for whatever reason, you appear to be focusing on the fiance at the exclusion of (as SuziQ points out) more likely scenarios. Or even possible ones.

 

[eleven]

Did you read my statement before the quote:


I mean no offense, but for whatever reason, you appear to be focusing on the fiance at the exclusion of (as SuziQ points out) more likely scenarios. Or even possible ones.

I know this wasn't directed at me, but just want to say that it seems that the "more likely scenarios" seem less of a probability as each day passes.

That being said, it is entirely POSSIBLE that the fiance had something to do with this. Not saying anything absolute, just that it is possible. Now, there are inconsistencies in his story. That's always the first thing that happens in all the many stories here on WS where the boyfriend/husband/significant other is later found out to be the perpretator.

 

[Amster]

How the heck could the fiance have pulled this off? Is the step-father in on it, also? He would lie and provide an alibi for the fiance?? Seems pretty far fetched....

 

[Cherry Baby]

You are falling into the "I would do X, therefore everyone should/would do X."

If you are saying the couple didn't let her in, they apparently did. Police haven't said that the call wasn't made.
If you're saying that she didn't leave the house, she did. Verified with cameras.
If you're saying that the couple didn't think she was impaired, she sure as hell looked impaired on the videotape! Perhaps not drunk but "not all there."

I try not to presume that everyone would do as I do. I'm just puzzled. I know they apparently did let her in, but if she was so 'impared' if they called the police and the police arrived, she and the child would have been perhaps found by now. I will have to go back and re-read the articles, perhaps I am missing something.

 

[eleven]

How the heck could the fiance have pulled this off? Is the step-father in on it, also? He would lie and provide an alibi for the fiance?? Seems pretty far fetched....

I have no idea. I am not saying with a certainty that the fiance is responsible, just that things aren't adding up. At all.

Far-fetched? Absolutely...so is every story on WS!

 

[MommyInHighHeels]

This article is similar to the one posted on the previous page, but it includes a video of A's father.

http://www.nwcn.com/news/Father-of-missing-boy-picks-up-search--88194812.html

"Carver says he can't begin to guess what led up to Shantina and Azriel's disappearance, but he says he's determined to be the one to solve this mystery. Carver said he planned to rent a car and drive to Olympia, where his former partner and their boy was last seen Saturday night.

"All I know is I want to get into the woods and just find him and I'm going to look for him," said Carver. "I don't know what's going on with the search and everything. I heard it's been called off, but I'm going to go out there and I'm going to find him.""