PA PA - Judy Smith, 50, Philadelphia, 10 April 1997

[Claudette]

Another thing: As far as I know, she didn't charge one thing on her credit card in Philly. Her husband claims she had cash with her. This seems very convenient as well. There was no paper trail of her being in Philly, because maybe she never arrived.

Just my opinion, which may change at any moment.

His company would pay for all of his expenses. Technically she was there as a tag-a-long and they wouldn't be paying for her to get there and whatnot but he could fudge the credit card charges. IE he could go to dinner with her and charge it on his card and the company would pay for it even though she ate.

 

[Claudette]

Can anybody give me a good reason why she didn't stay in a hotel in NC? Was it because she was losing her mind? She had credit cards in her own name, so it doesn't make sense to me that she wanted to sleep in her car. Someone, who claims they may have seen her, recalls that she asked if she could park in their lot and sleep in her car.

She was in the area less than 24 hours and didn't make it until night time, or even the afternoon to check in.

 

[Claudette]

I don't buy the story that she bought flowers for her husband and gave them to him in Philly as an apology for missing the first flight. I wonder if LE found the flowers in the hotel room. They should have been there, because she had only gave him those flowers the night before.

I agree. Men are so uncreative that giving flowers is the only way of being romantic in their minds. A woman would come up with something better or not do it at all. Lol....sorry but it is pretty true.

 

[Claudette]

According to this entry, there were blood stains on her clothes:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8635204

There is also a good picture of Judy.

This is the only place I have seen this mentioned and I would not treat it as a reliable source personally. Holes, according to news articles, indicated possible stabbings. Though that DOES bring up a good question - if she was stabbed wouldn't there be blood on the clothing? What if it were done post-mortem?

 

[Claudette]

Here is another link with some insight from the locals in NC:

http://articles.philly.com/1997-10-06/news/25537476_1_murder-mystery-summer-homes-probe

Ok that opens up a whole different window. In one article the local LE refused to mention if she was seen with a man or a woman. Perhaps she was gay and hid it from people and her ties to the area were friends or a girlfriend.

 

[Claudette]

Interesting! There could be a lead here. She could have met someone, while taking care of a patient---maybe similar to the same way she met Jeffrey. They could have made plans in person, so there were no phone calls.

She seemed to get really close and personal with a lot of her patients actually, traveling with them, and as far as THAILAND, to see them and their families. That's actually kind of weird to me to be honest.

 

[SunnieRN]

She seemed to get really close and personal with a lot of her patients actually, traveling with them, and as far as THAILAND, to see them and their families. That's actually kind of weird to me to be honest.

If I remember correctly, she was a home health nurse. When you do this type of nursing you can easily become much closer to people than in a hospital environment.

You are in their home, usually the agency will try to send the same nurse as often as possible. Usually the visits are daily, or several times a week. I made some lifetime friends while doing home health nursing.

It is a unique and rewarding area of nursing and I often miss it. Traveling with patients seems like a stretch however. Especially as far away as Thailand. It could have been that the person still needed nursing care and they offered to pay for her trip, if she helped care for her patient?

 

[JeannieC]

This is from an interview with her husband, Jeff Smith after she disappeared. Printed in the Philadelphia CityPaper

July 17, 1997

"She's an inordinately self-reliant person," who traveled to Thailand alone about five years ago to visit the grateful family of a former patient, he says. She also once took her kids to Europe for several weeks. "

One other interesting thing I noticed in the article:


"Judy is an experienced traveler, Jeff says, who neither needed nor tolerated protection."She was very bright — is very bright." He pauses and seems to pale, visibly shaken by his own words. He takes a deep breath before continuing. "On a very rare occasion I lapse into the past tense. It bothers me that I do that. She is very bright, and she was able to expose me to things I hadn't done before, and I was able to do the same for her. I don't know... we grew to love each other, I guess."




http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/071797/article010.shtml

 

[McSpy]

This is from an interview with her husband, Jeff Smith after she disappeared. Printed in the Philadelphia CityPaper

July 17, 1997

"She's an inordinately self-reliant person," who traveled to Thailand alone about five years ago to visit the grateful family of a former patient, he says. She also once took her kids to Europe for several weeks. "

One other interesting thing I noticed in the article:


"Judy is an experienced traveler, Jeff says, who neither needed nor tolerated protection."She was very bright — is very bright." He pauses and
seems to pale, visibly shaken by his own words. He takes a deep breath before continuing. "On a very rare occasion I lapse into the past tense. It bothers me that I do that. She is very bright, and she was able to expose me to things I hadn't done before, and I was able to do the same for her. I don't know... we grew to love each other, I guess."



http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/071797/article010.shtml

Since he was a criminal attorney, there is that possibility he was very aware of being careful with his words, because he knows how the police work.

 

[McSpy]

What bugs me about the rings is- Lt. Constance and his investigators really seem to have searched for evidence long and hard in and around the area where Judy was found and didn't find her rings. (sourcehttp://archives.citypaper.net/articles/100997/cb.buncombe.shtml ) Then last April they re-searched the area and found the rings. (source http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/073098/om1.shtml )

Makes me wonder if the rings could have been placed there after the initial searches.

Maybe the method they used on the first search was inadequate. They may have used metal detectors on the second search. Just a thought.

 

[McSpy]

This is from an interview with her husband, Jeff Smith after she disappeared. Printed in the Philadelphia CityPaper

July 17, 1997

"She's an inordinately self-reliant person," who traveled to Thailand alone about five years ago to visit the grateful family of a former patient, he says. She also once took her kids to Europe for several weeks. "

One other interesting thing I noticed in the article:


"Judy is an experienced traveler, Jeff says, who neither needed nor tolerated protection."She was very bright — is very bright." He pauses and seems to pale, visibly shaken by his own words. He takes a deep breath
before continuing. "On a very rare occasion I lapse into the past tense. It bothers me that I do that. She is very bright, and she was able to expose me to things I hadn't done before, and I was able to do the same for her. I don't know... we grew to love each other, I guess."

http://archives.citypaper.net/articles/071797/article010.shtml

I don't think she was an "inordinately self-reliant person." She was self-reliant, but I think her husband comes across as exaggerating. It almost seems like he was trying to place her far away from Philly with this excuse.

 

[JeannieC]

I wonder if the Vidocq Society would take this on if NC LE would make the request. They seem to give things a fresh look and maybe they will see things in a different light. I'm told they are the best.

 

[xLiqoricex]

To clarify, Judy met Jeff when she was taking care of his ailing father. She could have met someone else doing the same type thing after she was married to Jeff.

Yeah. She could have.

 

[xLiqoricex]

I don't think she was an "inordinately self-reliant person." She was self-reliant, but I think her husband comes across as exaggerating. It almost seems like he was trying to place her far away from Philly with this excuse.

Maybe he realized what people would think about him talking in past tense. A lot of people label this suspicious. He probably just didn't want to be another one of those statistics to be blamed. And if her husband did it then he would have had to have hired someone to kill his wife. Why would he do that? I haven't found any evidence or reason to think he did it except for not taking the polygraph test at the time because he was taking medicine. Sure it raises flags but I would be scared to take a polygraph test guilty or not. There are lots of innocent people who get thrown in jail. I think Judy came there on her own free will.

 

[JeannieC]

Maybe he realized what people would think about him talking in past tense. A lot of people label this suspicious. He probably just didn't want to be another one of those statistics to be blamed. And if her husband did it then he would have had to have hired someone to kill his wife. Why would he do that? I haven't found any evidence or reason to think he did it except for not taking the polygraph test at the time because he was taking medicine. Sure it raises flags but I would be scared to take a polygraph test guilty or not. There are lots of innocent people who get thrown in jail. I think Judy came there on her own free will.

I think the same thing. Maybe she met someone in Philly and rode to NC. I don't mean a stranger. A preplanned trip.

The mystery is how she got there. We know she was in Mass. We think she got on the plane to Philly. We think she was at the hotel. BUT we know she was in NC.

I wonder what her children think? That would be interesting to know. I also wonder if they are in contact with LE now that her husband is deceased.

I wonder is they are on Facebook. So many people are and have a facebook page for a deceased loved one too...especially murder victims.

 

[xLiqoricex]

I have looked to see if Judy had a Facebook and I couldn't find anything. I don't think her story is out in the open as much as it should be and I haven't heard any more news or updates. It's like this case is a dead end right now. Feels like no ones doing anything about it. I guess no one just really hasn't found any new information. I can't barely find any articles on her death or any information.

I did find a strange web site with some narration. I don't think it will help the situation but it just striked me as odd- http://www.livedash.com/transcript/...away)/5712/TRUTVP/Monday_July_26_2010/385340/

Another- Judy Smith Case - Sitcoms Online Message Boards - Forums

Sorry if any of these have been posted before.
I have never thought about a preplanned trip but I do consider it now. I just don't feel the husband had anything to do with her murder. I think she either met with foul play or she preplanned to meet someone she thought was harmless but turned out to be her killer. Why else would she have had so many sandwiches? Unless she planned on staying for a long time by herself. Then again, her sandwiches would have spoiled sooner.

Her children seem to be quiet about her death. Maybe they're just in shock.
It's sad that her husband passed away. But now he most likely knows what happened to his wife while the ones who are trying to solve it do not know.

 

[JeannieC]

I did find a strange web site with some narration. I don't think it will help the situation but it just striked me as odd- http://www.livedash.com/transcript/...away)/5712/TRUTVP/Monday_July_26_2010/385340/

Sorry if any of these have been posted before.
I have never thought about a preplanned trip but I do consider it now. I just don't feel the husband had anything to do with her murder. I think she either met with foul play or she preplanned to meet someone she thought was harmless but turned out to be her killer. Why else would she have had so many sandwiches? Unless she planned on staying for a long time by herself. Then again, her sandwiches would have spoiled sooner.

Her children seem to be quiet about her death. Maybe they're just in shock.
It's sad that her husband passed away. But now he most likely knows what happened to his wife while the ones who are trying to solve it do not know.

The paranormal readings didn't really tell much. Most of what they said we had already seen in other articles. IF they had told how she got there they would have been more helpful.

 

[JeannieC]

I have looked to see if Judy had a Facebook and I couldn't find anything. I don't think her story is out in the open as much as it should be and I haven't heard any more news or updates. It's like this case is a dead end right now. Feels like no ones doing anything about it. I guess no one just really hasn't found any new information. I can't barely find any articles on her death or any information.

Can anyone set up a facebook page in her name or does it have to be a family member? That could bring her son and daughter out to discuss what if anything they know. Might bring out people in the Ashville area to discuss it too.:banghead:

 

[xLiqoricex]

JeannieC,

I have thought about creating a Facebook page for Judy Smith. I just wasn't sure if I need some type of approval or something in order to do so. I am not totally sure if a family has to do it or not. Out of all the missing people I know of in depth their family members have posted a facebook account about their family members disappearance. But I've never seen a friend or a support person create a page. Not to say it hasn't happened I just haven't seen it.

I think I can find out if other people are allowed to other than a family member.

 

[JeannieC]

JeannieC,

I have thought about creating a Facebook page for Judy Smith. I just wasn't sure if I need some type of approval or something in order to do so. I am not totally sure if a family has to do it or not. Out of all the missing people I know of in depth their family members have posted a facebook account about their family members disappearance. But I've never seen a friend or a support person create a page. Not to say it hasn't happened I just haven't seen it.

I think I can find out if other people are allowed to other than a family member.

I wondered the same thing. It might help but I would hate to offend the family. They might just want to move on. You never know. I would want to know if were my mother or loved one.