Deceased/Not Found VA - Eric Smith, 42, Cedar Bluff, 8 Nov 2013

[vasportsmom]

I hate to be such a skeptic, and even more so since I don't know anyone involved in any of this... but if I'm remembering this all correctly and if we take it all at face value... He disappeared (abducted or succumbed) on his own property. I'm assuming the family still own this property?

I don't know if they are or aren't, but I'd be out there every day searching every square foot. It's not like it's 1,000 Acres of swamp, right? You could take a week to search a single square acre and cover every darn inch on your hands and knees with a few people... Do that for each and every acre on the property and then get permission from neighbors to do the same for the next few bordering acres. He is either there or he isn't.

Yes, Eric disappeared on his own property but it no longer remains in the hands of his family. I don't know who owns the property now and if they would object to searches.
The area searched Saturday is a public park with one of the area's most popular play grounds and hiking trails. It is located across the road from the area where he went missing.
I am completely flabbergasted at the way this search was planned, announced and carried out. There are rumblings about the low turn out but it was primarily discussed on a private FB group! People can't show up if they don't know an event is happening.



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[JerseyGirl]

Family of Missing Cedar Bluff man refuses to give up hope after years

http://wsls.com/2015/11/09/family-of-missing-cedar-bluff-man-refuse-to-give-up-hope/

 

[JnRyan]

I wasn't aware that the family no longer owned the property. I thought that property had been searched over and over again, though. I never heard if he had permission to hunt on nearby property as well.

 

[vasportsmom]

I wasn't aware that the family no longer owned the property. I thought that property had been searched over and over again, though. I never heard if he had permission to hunt on nearby property as well.

The property has been searched countless times but it is no longer owned by family. I drove up there a few weeks ago and another family is living in the home now.

I have a couple pics taken from the Overlook Trail (Eric's property bordered it) that my son took. They were taken right around the anniversary so it's a pretty good representation of what the area looked like then. I'll flag this post and ask if I can share the pics since my son is in both of them.

*I can't report my own post so if someone could flag it that would be great.

 

[JnRyan]

I still come back to this one every now and then even though it has been shelved to the 'missing, but not forgotten'. Due to everything I've read from those he supervised at work, his family and others in the community I don't believe it is suicide. Although you can't really know for sure, those committing suicide can't hide or move their body so almost all are usually found. So I've ruled that one out. Could be an accident, but I can't believe the dogs couldn't find anything. Unless, he was just out scouting the area and looking for new deer sign - bringing his muzzle loader just in case he gets a shot - he likely just went straight to his stand or where he intended to hunt. I ALMOST believe his body is not on the property any more, but moved elsewhere.

 

[JnRyan]

Well, the investigation is still very much active. A recent search based on a tip, but nothing came of it.

http://www.wearewvproud.com/story/3...iving-tip-about-a-missing-tazewell-county-man

 

[JnRyan]

Another article.

http://www.swvatoday.com/news/richl...cle_c12f79d4-001a-11e6-a97b-df6f7c445a41.html

Seems to also be about the 06 April search. Wonder what there could be about a tip that leads them to a mine? I can't imagine it being on his property. Was it on open land or someone's property where he had permission to hunt? I noted that the state investigative agency is involved again as well. They hint in this article that local LE MAY have found something. I really wonder what LE's theory or theories are on this case. Not a big community so I wonder if the locals have noticed anything different about those in Eric's circle of family and co-workers.

 

[JnRyan]

The latest updates, but not much of anything new.

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/myste...cle_273c2820-5c3d-11e6-864b-db0560599bb6.html

And a body found, but not Eric Smith.

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/sheri...cle_4c2acaf6-6fd9-11e6-9e9a-97bd0e7aaf8b.html

 

[Roselvr]

I updated the blurb on Eric's flier with the 2 articles OkieGranny posted. Direct link to flier

I then shared it on Never Forget Me with the vigil & reward info
Eric G Smith's vigil post
Still Seek Answers made an album for Eric -Eric Smith, 42, Cedar Bluff, Nov 8, 2013

Eric G Smith - missing one year - CANDLE LIGHT/ PRAYER VIGIL Saturday Nov 8th 6 p.m., at the gazebo outside of Cedar Bluff Town Hall. See link below for more info. Our heart will be with his family. There is a REWARD of $20,000; who could use that kind of money with the holidays coming? PLEASE, if you know something, call it in!

- Vigil to be held for missing Va. hunter

One year later, still no sign of missing Cedar Bluff hunter

CONTACT - Cedar Bluff Police Department at 276-963-3975; Virginia State Police - Special Agent Dave Belcher 276-889-7660 or Virginia State Police at 276-228-3131 or toll free at 1-800-542-8716. Case number 13-84-02-5029

NamUS Profile

3 years today without answers. Eric has a grand daughter who will never know her grandpa. My heart breaks for the family.

 

[JnRyan]

Still no updates. I can't believe this one is quietly going away as a cold case.

 

[JnRyan]

I still check in every now and then and search the internet. Nothing in the past few months. Something is wrong that he hasn't been found after another hunting season.

 

[JnRyan]

With summer almost here I would think it would difficult to see any human remains. They would be easier to see in the winter with the foliage gone and hunters out in the woods. I can't believe no one has even found his gun. This case almost indicates foul play as extensively as they searched the property he hunted on. Like his body wasn't there by the time they started searching.

 

[vasportsmom]

With summer almost here I would think it would difficult to see any human remains. They would be easier to see in the winter with the foliage gone and hunters out in the woods. I can't believe no one has even found his gun. This case almost indicates foul play as extensively as they searched the property he hunted on. Like his body wasn't there by the time they started searching.

The family seems to agree with you, as do I. Whether he left on his own or foul play was involved I don't think that Eric was on that mountain when the search started.

 

[Roselvr]

The family seems to agree with you, as do I. Whether he left on his own or foul play was involved I don't think that Eric was on that mountain when the search started.

I haven't been on FB much, been sick since August so haven't heard anything. Do they think its related to the house's old owners?

 

[JusticeWillBeServed]

No trace 4 years later: Tazewell County resident still missing after disappearing in 2013

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/no-trace-years-later-tazewell-county-resident-still-missing-after/article_afc7cfca-9d9e-11e7-aa2d-43b3a3cd0bd5.html

Eric Grady Smith, then 41, went missing after leaving his home the morning of Nov. 8, 2013 to go hunting on his property. Smith’s family and friends joined forces with local law enforcement agencies and the Virginia State Police in an extensive search of the area, but no clues about his whereabouts could be discovered.

“It’s still an active investigation and we’re running anything new coming down,” Senior Special Agent John Santolla of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Virginia State Police said Tuesday.

A $20,000 reward has been offered by Smith’s family and friends for information. Santolla said the reward was still in place.

 

[JnRyan]

No trace 4 years later: Tazewell County resident still missing after disappearing in 2013

http://www.bdtonline.com/news/no-trace-years-later-tazewell-county-resident-still-missing-after/article_afc7cfca-9d9e-11e7-aa2d-43b3a3cd0bd5.html

I just came across this article. This is most recent I can find. I would have thought something else would have come out on the 4 year mark of his disappearance.

The Reddit thread has some interesting posts from some who claim to be in or have lived in that general area. A lot of discussion about how difficult it is to find someone in that wilderness. But wasn't Eric Smith hunting on his own land? He may have agreements with his neighbors to hunt on their land. That would seem to limit the area for the initial searches and they did use dogs I believe. To be outside the search area, I can see if he shot a deer and tracked it off the property.

I grew up in in Louisiana and we had areas where you could get lost when hunting. But I still have difficulty in seeing this as someone who had an accident and could not get out. He was an experienced hunter and knew the area. Unless he was unconscious he would likely have the means to build a fire. I don't believe he was on his land or maybe even not on his neighbor's land if he wasn't found. What about the possibility he caught a trespasser hunting deer or was shot by accident by another hunter? Buried somewhere to hide that fact.

Back to the dog searches. I remember they did at least one. I don't remember the exact results of that, though. That is, could the dogs not pick up a trail or did they lose the trail?

 

[Roselvr]

Never Forget Me

135 shares on Eric's flier

REWARD $20,000 - Eric G. Smith, 42 of Cedar Bluff, Virginia was last seen in the early morning hours of November 8, 2013. Eric had been sick all week, but still went to work. He reportedly set off at 10am that morning on foot to hunt on his private property armed with a 50 Caliber muzzle loader. When he did not return home that evening his wife reported him missing. He has never been seen again despite numerous searches (see below). There is a $20,000 reward for information leading to his location and or recovery. His heart broken mother is pleading for someone to call in & give a tip. The holidays are fast approaching; it is a very difficult time for families to go on without answers.

Smith is described as a while male, 6', weighing in at 210 lbs. with brown hair and brown eyes, wearing camouflage clothing

Anyone with information should call the Cedar Bluff Police Department at 276-963-3975; Virginia State Police - Special Agent Dave Belcher 276-889-7660 or Virginia State Police at 276-228-3131 or toll free at 1-800-542-8716.

Case number 13-84-02-5029
NamUS Profile

Eric Smith info on Tazewell County Online
Petition by Eric's mom

UPDATE: Search continues for missing man in Tazewell County Posted: Nov 09, 2013 5:08 PM EST Updated: Nov 23, 2013 5:08 PM EST

SEARCHES - Around 10 a.m. Friday morning Smith left from his home in Cedar Bluff to hunt the adjacent woods. By Friday evening Smith had not returned, with temperatures dropping to26 F family members grew concerned and contacted the authorities. Virginia State
Police helicopter was dispatched, equipped with F L I R (Forward Looking Infrared) equipment.By Saturday morning a search began of the area around Smith’s Cedar Bluff residence in the vicinity of The Cuts.
Billy Chrimes, Deputy Search and Rescue Coordinator with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management said a trailing dog picked up several scents leading from the Smith home. However, these trails could be days old. At least one of these trails led Back to the home. Despite the resources utilized the search was still unsuccessful throughout the day.
By Sunday afternoon approximately 60 people had gathered at the command center set up at the Cedar Bluff Fire Department. Not only was the group made up of the trained search and rescue teams from across the region but coworkers from CONSOL Energy, fire department members, and other members of the community. Cedar Bluff Police Chief David Mills, coordinator of the search said with Smith wearing high tech camo the search becomes much more difficult. “He can be lying down and he would be impossible to see,” Mills said. The terrain is also a big problem in the search. With thick underbrush and steep hills it is necessary to cover an area multiple times in order to be thorough.
Six air scent dogs were being utilized in Sunday’s search. The dogs trained to smell and alert to any human scent present can be the equivalent of 10 or 12 human ground team members especially in the conditions of the ongoing search.

- See more here

Hit the arrow in my quote to be taken to where it was posted. There were a lot of articles posted at the time.

Different SAR dogs were used including one that could smell gun powder from his muzzle loader.

I think he got seriously injured and was missed. It's happened before. Had he been awake he would have shot his gun unless he didn't have it due to some type of fall. I hope he will be found.

 

[JnRyan]

Hit the arrow in my quote to be taken to where it was posted. There were a lot of articles posted at the time.

Different SAR dogs were used including one that could smell gun powder from his muzzle loader.

I think he got seriously injured and was missed. It's happened before. Had he been awake he would have shot his gun unless he didn't have it due to some type of fall. I hope he will be found.

Thanks. I knew there was a dog search, but I didn't remember the FLIR search. (But with the temps down to 26 degrees I don't know how valuable it would be if he died in the early evening.) A post or two up from your original post states that he had a tree stand less than a mile from the house.

I can understand the point about trying to find someone who has gone off to hunt on national forest land being difficult to find as addressed in the Reddit posts. But what I was getting at is that he was hunting on his own land and even tracking a wounded deer onto adjacent land would still seem to give a somewhat more limited area than hunting on public land. Those committing suicide (I don't believe that is the case here) and accidental deaths are cases where the body is not usually hidden. Six air scent dogs couldn't find him. That says a lot to me after one found a missing Alzheimer sufferer who been missing for 2 days near us a few years ago.

People have been lost and never found or not found for years before. Still this case really baffles me. Especially after hunting for years in Louisiana and Virginia.

 

[Roselvr]

My biggest SAR issue is that Chris Sexton also missing from WV was missed within 15 feet of his remains. He even had a shoe off. I'll be shocked if some of the same dogs weren't used. I'll just say a home owner found him a few weeks later. Chris went missing a few weeks before Eric.

I'm not sure how long Eric lived in the house. From what I've heard, it wasn't long. His brother lived next door so I assume he knew the land from hunting with his brother.

 

[Ozoner]

I just came across this article. This is most recent I can find. I would have thought something else would have come out on the 4 year mark of his disappearance.

The Reddit thread has some interesting posts from some who claim to be in or have lived in that general area. A lot of discussion about how difficult it is to find someone in that wilderness. But wasn't Eric Smith hunting on his own land? He may have agreements with his neighbors to hunt on their land. That would seem to limit the area for the initial searches and they did use dogs I believe. To be outside the search area, I can see if he shot a deer and tracked it off the property.

I grew up in in Louisiana and we had areas where you could get lost when hunting. But I still have difficulty in seeing this as someone who had an accident and could not get out. He was an experienced hunter and knew the area. Unless he was unconscious he would likely have the means to build a fire. I don't believe he was on his land or maybe even not on his neighbor's land if he wasn't found. What about the possibility he caught a trespasser hunting deer or was shot by accident by another hunter? Buried somewhere to hide that fact.

Back to the dog searches. I remember they did at least one. I don't remember the exact results of that, though. That is, could the dogs not pick up a trail or did they lose the trail?

I think you've hit on the main possibilities:
A) He was killed accidentally by another hunter.
B) He was murdered by a poacher.
C) He tracked a deer far from his tree stand and had an accident or heart attack. (I've heard of hunters tracking an animal for miles.)

And as Roselvr mentioned, he may simply have been missed. The wind could have shifted to wrong direction when the dogs were near his body, etc.