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

[jamiect]

Are we sure she took I-5 to Olympia? For those familiar with WA State, is there a chance that in order to miss rush hour traffic (which can be terrible on Fridays headed south), maybe she went down the peninsula and then ended near Shelton and back north to Olympia? Might explain some of the lost time...

Didn't she leave on Saturday (not Friday)?.

 

[iluvmua]

Is it possible that she asked someone for a ride?

 

[BOZGAL]

I know some folks think we're obsessing over the fiancee. Realistically, I don't think he had anything to do with this directly. But the website just rubs me the wrong way! I can't get over it. Hours after your fiance and her child goes missing, you make an outline detailing YOUR moves? Who cares! Compare this to Nancy Moyer's website (nancymoyer.com) - it's all about her, details her tattoos, huge fonts with phone numbers.

With Robb, I immediately thought "manufactured alibi." It just came off as overcompensating. But it fully could just be a nervous reaction to the 24/7 Nancy Grace media. Like Marc Klaas giving DNA/polygraph immediately so the focus wouldn't be on him.

ITA
He comes off very rehearsed and not natural. So precise on times and calls. Who writes all that stuff down? KWIM. When I am upset such as talking with the DR or more recently the hospital about my dear Aunt, I can't give exact times on things. I take care of her and understand all of her medical issues but I do not keep a diary. KWIM


JMO

 

[lawlady84]

Re the 6:45 phone call/no phone call... check the comments on this article:

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

I'm assuming "MyStepmomBack" is really the stepdaughter - she states there was no "message." So they must have spoken at 6:45.

 

[SuziQ]

At this point nobody and everybody is a suspect. She either got out and she is out there somewhere, or she met harm somewhere along the way.

My question is, does he have anything to gain? Did she accept his marriage proposal? Was the home in his or her name? Was there an insurance policy somewhere?

Ok, you get the answers and then what? How did he do something to her when he was an hour away with other people from before she got lost?

 

[SuziQ]

Is it possible that she asked someone for a ride?

Absolutely. Not only ask for a ride, but actually got into their vehicle. Smiley obviously had no reservation about knocking on a strangers door and going into their house.

 

[marcyjoy]

Didn't she leave on Saturday (not Friday)?.

Ooopsss...sorry..willl correct in my post

 

[SuziQ]

The SO's in the area. Does someone have a map showing how far they live from where their car was found? Could Smiley have knocked on their door?

 

[RubyRed]

Shantina Smiley's Family Fears Abduction

The family of the missing Washington mother Shantina Smiley fear that she may have asked for help from the wrong people, endangering herself and her young son, who have now been missing for nearly four days.

"[Smiley] is too trusting," said Dana Carver, the aunt of 8-year-old Azriel Carver who vanished with his mom. "She is one of those girls who

wears her heart on her sleeve."

Who knocks on the door of a complete stranger at 10 p.m.?" asked Carver. "And who in their right mind goes down a dirt road at night. It's just too weird. You just don't do that in 2010."

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

 

[justme96]

I know some folks think we're obsessing over the fiancee. Realistically, I don't think he had anything to do with this directly. But the website just rubs me the wrong way! I can't get over it. Hours after your fiance and her child goes missing, you make an outline detailing YOUR moves? Who cares! Compare this to Nancy Moyer's website (nancymoyer.com) - it's all about her, details her tattoos, huge fonts with phone numbers.

With Robb, I immediately thought "manufactured alibi." It just came off as overcompensating. But it fully could just be a nervous reaction to the 24/7 Nancy Grace media. Like Marc Klaas giving DNA/polygraph immediately so the focus wouldn't be on him.

Honestly he is not acting like the search is the most important thing. He has been in Seattle for two days. The focus should not be on the media. If the media wanted to interview him they could have came to Olympia. His statements don't match up at all. He states he may have cancer, and then on GMA he said he looked it up on the internet and hasn't followed up on it. His photography company is unknown to the locals of Kitsap County. I have been searching for a photographer for senior portraits never once has his name came up.

 

[dreamweaver]

So mysterious.

I think the longer you work on these threads/forums, the instinct is to look at anyone with a skeptical eye.
BF's, fiance's, if the story does not hang together right away, they become under suspicion.
IMO, at this very moment, I do not see the fiance as having done something to Shantina.
But, his story or stories just don't mesh.
So, he is either leaving lots of things out or
he's trying not to say certain things.

I saw the quote from LE, that he is being 'very cooperative.'
I kind of chuckled to myself, because to me that translated into
he is driving us crazy, giving way too much information.
Again, IMO.

I usually go with the KISS theory... keep it simple ....
And in that case, Shantina has agreed to go reconnect with her stepfather and former step siblings.
Robb has told her he is worried about his medical condition, but wants to marry her.
For some reason, this throws her into using alcohol again.
This, according to Robb.
Robb does not say if she drank a beer or if she started downing screwdrivers.

Shantina sets out on her trip of about two hours.
A former step sister says they expected her about 7:30pm.

If traffic was heavy at 4:30pm or 5pm, whenever she left, then
she could have been delayed a little.

At 6:45pm, she calls Robb.
That is about when she thought he would be at home from scout leadership training, according to what she knew when she left her house.

But then she is still wandering about over two hours later.
She cannot seem to understand the directions she has been given.
The convenience store clerk looks at a map with her.
She stops at a stranger's home. They give Azriel pizza and tell her directions.

I think she was disoriented from either a seemingly minor traffic fender bender
or she did have a drink and maybe some medication.

She gets stuck on the beach, partially in the water.
Would I stay in the van? Nope. I would take my son
and start hiking back up the dirt road.

My worry: Besides the obvious one of caught in a strong tide...
is that she did have a head injury and it continued to bleed inside
her brain and maybe she collapsed, either in the van or
walking to safety.
Remember Natasha Richardson last year?

Prayers for Shantina and Azriel that they are found safe and sound.

 

[lawlady84]

Ok, you get the answers and then what? How did he do something to her when he was an hour away with other people from before she got lost?

I'm NOT saying this happened or is even plausible/likely, but he could have had someone follow her. Would explain why she looked so nervous all the time. Maybe the guy came into the diner, she saw him, she ran out without the corndog. Did he have a mistress? She could have followed her. Etc.

Probably NOT the case here, but you don't have to be in the same room with someone to do them harm. I just don't take what the fiancee posts on the internet as completely exonerating him.

 

[dreamweaver]

If Shantina and Azriel were my family members, and LE gave up on searches for them,
I would go with some family and friends and
follow her pathway through Olympia... I would leave
the area of the last known people to see her at the
time she left their home.
I would drive down to the narrow dirt road.
I would park on the beach.
I would then look around. How many lights are there?
Can you see back up the dirt road so you can climb it?
What would catch your eye?

I would want to know if the headlights were left on, maybe
to light their way up out of the beach area?
I know. The keys were found on the dashboard.

I would wonder if she was drinking, were there any signs of that in
the van?

And just to be over cautious, I would have the phone number
of the local tow companies and my cell phone would be charged.

I would want to be where she was at the same time she was there.

 

[RubyRed]

Jay Carver, the father of the missing boy, arrived in Seattle from his home in New York Tuesday to help look for his son and his former partner.

Carver told ABC News' Seattle affiliate KOMO-TV that he has been feeling "very helpless."

"I'm going to look around, and probably spend a lot of time looking in the woods. I know there's been a lot of people looking already," he said. "I'm going to see what they've already unturned and uncovered, and possibly, hopefully, maybe find him."

We could be the last people to have seen her. Like, ever," resident Taylor Williams said. "I really hope that's not the case."

Williams said Smiley didn't appear to be drunk or otherwise impaired, but seemed nervous and looked as if she'd been crying. She told the family she'd left the highway to find her son a bathroom.

Police wouldn't comment on Smiley's reported troubles with alcohol addiction

I couldn't even find the access road, and it was light out," Mealy said. "You really have to know where it is. It's the kind of road you don't want to take because it's so steep and narrow."

"It's very rare for someone who doesn't know the area to wind up where her van wound up," Mealy said.

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

 

[waterpants]

So mysterious.

I think the longer you work on these threads/forums, the instinct is to look at anyone with a skeptical eye.
BF's, fiance's, if the story does not hang together right away, they become under suspicion.
IMO, at this very moment, I do not see the fiance as having done something to Shantina.
But, his story or stories just don't mesh.
So, he is either leaving lots of things out or
he's trying not to say certain things.

I saw the quote from LE, that he is being 'very cooperative.'
I kind of chuckled to myself, because to me that translated into
he is driving us crazy, giving way too much information.
Again, IMO.

I usually go with the KISS theory... keep it simple ....
And in that case, Shantina has agreed to go reconnect with her stepfather and former step siblings.
Robb has told her he is worried about his medical condition, but wants to marry her.
For some reason, this throws her into using alcohol again.
This, according to Robb.
Robb does not say if she drank a beer or if she started downing screwdrivers.

Shantina sets out on her trip of about two hours.
A former step sister says they expected her about 7:30pm.

If traffic was heavy at 4:30pm or 5pm, whenever she left, then
she could have been delayed a little.

At 6:45pm, she calls Robb.
That is about when she thought he would be at home from scout leadership training, according to what she knew when she left her house.

But then she is still wandering about over two hours later.
She cannot seem to understand the directions she has been given.
The convenience store clerk looks at a map with her.
She stops at a stranger's home. They give Azriel pizza and tell her directions.

I think she was disoriented from either a seemingly minor traffic fender bender
or she did have a drink and maybe some medication.

She gets stuck on the beach, partially in the water.
Would I stay in the van? Nope. I would take my son
and start hiking back up the dirt road.

My worry: Besides the obvious one of caught in a strong tide...
is that she did have a head injury and it continued to bleed inside
her brain and maybe she collapsed, either in the van or
walking to safety.
Remember Natasha Richardson last year?

Prayers for Shantina and Azriel that they are found safe and sound.

I tend to agree with that KISS theory. I DO think her head was giving her problems (whether self-induced by alcohol or not self-induced by a car accident and/or fall) I think due to her head condition she got worse. By then it was dark & late & they were outdoors. You do the math. I unfortunately think this is probably what happened.

 

[waterpants]

If Shantina and Azriel were my family members, and LE gave up on searches for them,
I would go with some family and friends and
follow her pathway through Olympia... I would leave
the area of the last known people to see her at the
time she left their home.
I would drive down to the narrow dirt road.
I would park on the beach.
I would then look around. How many lights are there?
Can you see back up the dirt road so you can climb it?
What would catch your eye?

I would want to know if the headlights were left on, maybe
to light their way up out of the beach area?
I know. The keys were found on the dashboard.

I would wonder if she was drinking, were there any signs of that in
the van?

And just to be over cautious, I would have the phone number
of the local tow companies and my cell phone would be charged.

I would want to be where she was at the same time she was there.

I agree wholeheartedly. I would think I would do the exact same thing no matter WHAT.

 

[SuziQ]

I'm NOT saying this happened or is even plausible/likely, but he could have had someone follow her. Would explain why she looked so nervous all the time. Maybe the guy came into the diner, she saw him, she ran out without the corndog. Did he have a mistress? She could have followed her. Etc.

Probably NOT the case here, but you don't have to be in the same room with someone to do them harm. I just don't take what the fiancee posts on the internet as completely exonerating him.

Anything is possible in the universe, this is true. But not calling anyone anywhere she stopped. Not allerting anyone? That would be my luck though if I ever stalked someone, to end up stalking someone hopelessly meandering all over and waiting for them to finally finally pull into a deserted beach where I could nab them. As a stalker I would be beyond annoyed. lol.

 

[James Vic]

Also, just watched the surveillance video and noticed Azriel was sitting in the back seat of the car. At what age can kids start sitting in the front? (I know there are recommendations, not sure the age). Why would he be sitting in the back?

Although he might have wanted to sit in the back regardless if the minivan had a TV for the kids.

I don’t know if this has already been answered. You have to be 13 years old to sit in the front seat in Washington State.

 

[Calliope]

Shantina Smiley's Family Fears Abduction







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

Where in that article do they interview Shantina's family? I don't see it.

 

[raeann]

Where in that article do they interview Shantina's family? I don't see it.

I believe that they are referring to the comments by Azriel's aunt who would in essence still be "family" in this case.

jmoo