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

[eyes4crime]

1) I am sure the step-father was expecting them, when the fiancee arrived they waited for her together and then drove around together.

2) Good point! I am sure they would have had at least some clothing/toiletries and those must have been taken with them when they left the van.

3) SS probably had directions or knew the address, because Robb called her and got them when he was in Vader. But, it is strange that he was within 10 or so miles of the destination, fixing a mechanical problem, and still did not know his "destination address." I guess it was just luck that she called him with that information at 6:45....?

That part is just too crazy for me. Sound like the fiancee was going to go to step-dads house and wait for Smiley. Why would he go there alone? Did he know him?

When Smiley called him about destination - I wonder if she asked him for directions or how he was going to get there. Who knows what he may have said to her. MOO

 

[krista]

Fiance is now saying that Smiley was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed last week. Ugh, this scares me! If she had been drinking enough to be that disoriented, her son, the people she met along the way SHOULD have been able to tell or at least smell it on her. Makes me wonder about the gas station video...why didn't SHE go to the register, why did she have her son pay for the item...what was the item? Possibly gum, mints?? Something to mask the smell if she was visiting her father/husband?~?~?
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_mom_son_missing_simmons.html

 

[TakeNote]

i sure hope LE gets some kind of lead soon.....i hate to think a mother and son out there somewhere....ugg

 

[SuziQ]

That part is just too crazy for me. Sound like the fiancee was going to go to step-dads house and wait for Smiley. Why would he go there alone? Did he know him?

When Smiley called him about destination - I wonder if she asked him for directions or how he was going to get there. Who knows what he may have said to her. MOO

I think the fiance was under the assumption that she was going to be there before him. Remember, plans changed on everyone when the Scout meeting ended early and Smiley got lost. Otherwise she would have been there before him. And I'm always ending up at a persons house before the people that know them do. It's because I'm a stickler for being on time.

 

[krista]

FYI: The reason RS wouldn't know the address for Shantina's father. Also, the reason Shantina may have been unfamiliar with the area.
Shantina and her father had been out of touch for a while, according to the father:
"Woodard was looking forward to Smiley's arrival with her son around 7:30 or 8 p.m. Saturday evening. They were going to spend the night at her house and get more thoroughly re-acquainted after a few years of being out of touch while they lived in different parts of the country." http://www.kirotv.com/news/22859850/detail.html

 

[cj327]

So she could have been trying to escape reality or delay confronting reality by drinking and driving around Olympia. Sounds like there was a lot of stress in her life with the stepdad reunion and her husband's illness, and her recent relapse. It makes the most sense to me but does not explain where they went!

Or she could have had some other plan to escape her problems like meeting a third party. A little strange to plan the meeting on a trip to her stepfather's though. So that is probably unlikely. It would explain the disappearance though, if they got into another vehicle and abandoned hers.

 

[Calliope]

Fiance is now saying that Smiley was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed last week. Ugh, this scares me! If she had been drinking enough to be that disoriented, her son, the people she met along the way SHOULD have been able to tell or at least smell it on her. Makes me wonder about the gas station video...why didn't SHE go to the register, why did she have her son pay for the item...what was the item? Possibly gum, mints?? Something to mask the smell if she was visiting her father/husband?~?~?
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_mom_son_missing_simmons.html

Her son said she'd hit her head. This was before she fell in the lot of the diner. Perhaps she was injured before the trip started? Or maybe a hard stop, whacking her head on the steering wheel of the van? (the van showed no signs of a collision)

If she had a head injury, she could have displayed increasingly disoriented or confused behaviour as the night progressed.

 

[SuziQ]

So she could have been trying to escape reality or delay confronting reality by drinking and driving around Olympia. Sounds like there was a lot of stress in her life with the stepdad reunion and her husband's illness, and her recent relapse. It makes the most sense to me but does not explain where they went!

Or she could have had some other plan to escape her problems like meeting a third party. A little strange to plan the meeting on a trip to her stepfather's though. So that is probably unlikely. It would explain the disappearance though, if they got into another vehicle and abandoned hers.

If she ran into anyone I think it was after the car got stuck and they had to abandon it. What else were they going to do? She may have been walking and the wrong person offered to help.

 

[cj327]

Fiance is now saying that Smiley was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed last week. Ugh, this scares me! If she had been drinking enough to be that disoriented, her son, the people she met along the way SHOULD have been able to tell or at least smell it on her. Makes me wonder about the gas station video...why didn't SHE go to the register, why did she have her son pay for the item...what was the item? Possibly gum, mints?? Something to mask the smell if she was visiting her father/husband?~?~?
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_mom_son_missing_simmons.html

That makes sense, she was drinking and so she sent her son to the cash register because she was nervous or not thinking straight. Also, maybe she had a few drinks and then wanted to drive around a bit in Olympia to sober up before going on to Castle Rock. And have some mints.

 

[Calliope]

Makes me wonder about the gas station video...why didn't SHE go to the register, why did she have her son pay for the item.

That makes sense, she was drinking and so she sent her son to the cash register because she was nervous or not thinking straight. Also, maybe she had a few drinks and then wanted to drive around a bit in Olympia to sober up before going on to Castle Rock. And have some mints.

The video I saw showed her at the register.

 

[LogicalMinds]

In reading over this I am struck by how cold that water must be and the fact it is really sea water, has tides, part of the Pacific

I am also struck by the fact that all the first reports said how she was "not into drugs"...almost overkill...now we see that she did have an alcohol problem

I was thinking stroke, head injury...but usually the simplest answer is the correct one (although not often popular here)

I think if she relapsed she would drive, even with her son in the car...alcohol and an alcoholic can make them do things they would normally never ever do...all reason , all sense goes out the window..anything is possible...

I think that the relapse, the stress of fiance ill, (?) , the stress of seeing someone from her past...maybe she was doing that as part of her "program"..clearing up the past....but the stress was too much especially if she had begun drinking

I think she was most likely drinking and driving...and that is why she fell...why lost..why no phone....why the odd smile on her face in the one video

I don't blame people for NOT stopping her...she may have been able to "hide" her drinking....alcoholics are very clever and can use many ways to hide drinking up to a point (functioning alcoholics)

I wonder if the "tide" was up when they went in the water...she may have been floundering around and her poor little guy tried to help her ??

or ...hopefully...they got out of there and she bullheadedly took off with her son, trying to find her way out...> I hope they are found, every moment counts...however...I do think that they need to search the water there if possible...

Once I heard about the relapse I don't think there was a predator or a stalker or anything.

JMO of course

 

[mysticrose]

Clues still scarce 3 days after woman, son went missingBY JEREMY PAWLOSKI | Staff writer • Published March 16, 2010


Dive teams continued searching Puget Sound for a missing Silverdale woman and her 8-year-old son today, and investigators took another look at their abandoned minivan, but neither effort produced new clues to the missing pair’s whereabouts.

Shantina “Kat” Smiley and her son, Azriel J. Carver, last were seen about 10 p.m. Saturday. Their abandoned minivan was found Sunday on a rocky beach at Little Fish Trap, northeast of Boston Harbor.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said today’s search along the shoreline of Dana Passage and Budd Inlet included dive team members who used a submersible camera and sonar to try to locate the pair.

Mealy said detectives took a second look at Smiley’s minivan after the inside of the vehicle, which had been partly underwater at high tide, dried out. They dusted the vehicle for fingerprints but found no new evidence, he said.

When a neighbor discovered the minivan on the beach Sunday morning, Smiley’s wallet, containing identification and credit cards, was in the backseat, but her purse was missing. The van’s side door and rear hatch were open. There is no evidence of foul play, Mealy has said.

Smiley’s fiance, Robb Simmons, has told investigators that Smiley was recovering from an alcohol problem, Thurston County Chief Criminal Deputy James Chamberlain confirmed today. Simmons has told The Olympian that Smiley was on medication for anxiety.

No new search efforts were planned for today, Chamberlain wrote in an e-mail late this afternoon. The sheriff’s office is following up on a number of tips that have been called in, Mealy said.

Snip........................................


Jill Pribbenow, one of the neighbors who discovered the minivan, said today that the keys were on the dashboard.

Pribbenow said the dirt road that leads down a steep slope to the beach is especially dark at night and is difficult to navigate. She said the disappearance of Smiley and her son is “completely weird.”

The water current on Dana Passage off Little Fish Trap is extremely fast when the tides change, Pribbenow said


Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2010/03/16/1174731/clues-still-scarce-3-days-after.html#ixzz0iOkAB4rA

 

[Lipin One]

Silverdale Robb Simmons Cub Scout training was to be let out at 6:45pm but let out at 4:30pm and he left for Castle Rock (not knowing the address where he was going to.)

Silverdale 5:00pm (according to...?) - Saturday 13th She left for trip Note: What did she do all day before leaving?

Toledo-Vader 6:45pm - Boyfriend called about bringing her cellphone, he had stopped making "minor" repair (10 miles from Castle Rock).

Castle Rock 7:40pm - Boyfriend reaches stepfather's home.

West Olympia Handy Pantry on Division Street 7:50pm (almost 3 hours after departing home) - Surveillance video, told clerk she was lost, seen viewing a map of Olympia.

Restaurant Martin Way diner on Forth Avenue East in Olympia 9:00pm (4 hours after leaving, 1 hour after talking to person at West Olympia Mini Mart) - bought hotdog but left it (after paying for it) - Had trouble staying awake, fell on her knees at the parking lot.

Gull Harbor Merchantile on Boston Harbor Road 9:54pm (almost 5 hours after leaving) - Store surveillance camera puts her there but the store was closed.

D****s W******'s home 1400 block of 46th Avenue NE 10:00pm - Told she was lost, called "grandfather" (Silas Smith) and told him she was lost and Williams was giving her directions (why call the grandpa and not the boyfriend or stepfather?)

North Olympia short time after - Surveillance on gas station shows her heading to town (?)

Zangle Road Northeast in a private road Sunday morning(no time) - neighbor saw the van in the water and called 911 Neighbor says all doors open, newspaper says APPARENTLY the side (which side) and hatchback were open. Van backed up into water that reached up to the seats.

Her purse gone, but wallet left behind. (Did someone take the purse not unknowing her wallet was not there? Wallet was on backseat, hidden?

Tidbits:
Shantina Smiley (nickname: Kat) 29y.o.
Azriel Carver 8 y.o. - 2nd grader at North Kitsap school
Robert Simmons - boyfriend (ocupation?)
No signs of foul play in car
Wallet had credit card, cash, driver's license
Scent dogs couldn't find a trail
Divers didn't find a thing (no clothing, shoe, purse, etc...) in the water
Family describe her as responsible, non-substance abuser (in the beginning, now there's news of alcoholism/relapse and psych medicines for anxiety)
Dodge Caravan
She was going to visit relatives in Castle Rock (South of Olympia)
Brinnon - where grandfather lives
Rode the same route before, she being from Castle Rock.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/22842562/detail.html
http://www.king5.com/
http://robbsimmons.com/

 

[LogicalMinds]

Fiance is now saying that Smiley was a recovering alcoholic who relapsed last week. Ugh, this scares me! If she had been drinking enough to be that disoriented, her son, the people she met along the way SHOULD have been able to tell or at least smell it on her. Makes me wonder about the gas station video...why didn't SHE go to the register, why did she have her son pay for the item...what was the item? Possibly gum, mints?? Something to mask the smell if she was visiting her father/husband?~?~?
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_wa_mom_son_missing_simmons.html

That is a good point...she may have sent her son to the register for that every reason

Kids of alcoholics often learn to live with crazy situations
they also usually have a lot of denial...they want life to be good, want mommy to be "good" and "normal"...and....want to please etc

"the abnormal becomes normal"

 

[LogicalMinds]

Fiancee has a dj/photographer company...Shantina was the photog...they seem to do a lot of weddings...saw info on that on his facebook page

 

[mysticrose]

ok so now we have DW saying she was scared :waitasec: Carrpy reporting ???

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Missing Woman's Family 'Really Concerned'
Woman, 8-Year-Old Son Last Spotted In Olympia

POSTED: 6:43 pm PDT March 16, 2010
UPDATED: 7:15 pm PDT March 16, 2010

Earlier Saturday, surveillance video captured her at a convenience store in Olympia asking for directions. At 10 p.m., Smiley stopped by Dennis Williams' house to ask for directions again.

"She was obviously scared. We gave her directions and let her use our phone to call her grandfather," Williams said.

Smiley told her grandfather she was lost, but doing fine. She hasn't been heard from since.

http://www.kptv.com/news/22860661/detail.html

 

[trigger]

Me too, not saying... but...

They had met two years before, and he had no idea where they were going?

Were they supposed to go in separate cars? And no idea where he was going?

Disregarding his Boy Scout training... why didn't they go together?

By his statement, when she called at 6:45pm, he was getting his car fixed of a "minor" issue at Toledo-Vader. That's ten miles from Castle Rock.

Couldn't she wait from 5:00pm or so to 6:45pm that he was supposed to get off training so they would go together?

He got out at 4:30pm, and didn't call her to see if she was still in town? He just took off not knowing where he was going...

Let's remember that this happened Saturday evening.

So many questions. Something is just not making any sense. When I saw he wrote that his training session was done early you would think he would have called her right away, him thinking wow this is great we can go together. I wonder what the times are for these training sessions. I would love to find out. I mean after all she wasn't good with directions, and she did have a relapse. She was nervous and stressed out with the visit. So why didn't he call her? Did they have a fight which caused her to drink again? Did he take her cell phone out of her purse on purpose? Does anyone think the reason she left the diner in a hurry was because she saw his car drive by. Sorry but something isn't adding up. No one stays lost for that long. Its like she was in the Twilight Zone.

 

[kai]

Here is a map showing roughly where "pizza couple" home was located and where her van ended up. To me it is apparent it would be easy to get lost and take the wrong road. If she was anything like me when someone tells me to turn north, south etc I get very confused lol...I need a right , left direction or a landmark of sorts.

She turned in the wrong direction and followed the road until she found the beach and tried to turn around got the van stuck and according to some articles it was submerged. If it started to sink I am sure she panicked to get out, grabbed her purse in a hurry and her wallet fell out. According to this map it takes 11 mins max to get to where the van ended up, so if she left their place around 10:00 pm she got stuck here between 10:10 -10:30 pm.
I am under the impression that as many stops as she made and her stopping to find a phone that she would have went to someone's home for help to use the phone etc... perhaps someone offered to pull van out and she and her son got in the vehicle with someone with bad intentions. If they where in that area they would have been found by now if they where lost.
LE found the van around 11:00 am the next day so that is roughly 13 hours later right ?
I can not imagine her not asking for help from a nearby home especially with her son in tow ... I think if she would have drown or something that they would have found her son by now....jmo
Anyway here is the link A being pizza house and B being where she ended up:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...49,-122.837791&spn=0.113989,0.362206&t=h&z=12

Haven't finished reading so I apologize if this has been asked/answered > What was the tide in this area at this time then?

 

[Calliope]

<snip>

Once I heard about the relapse I don't think there was a predator or a stalker or anything.

JMO of course

That is pretty convenient, isn't it?

 

[mysticrose]

Haven't finished reading so I apologize if this has been asked/answered > What was the tide in this area at this time then?

I think this is the right chart if it is not there is a link and we can find the right one:

Tides for Olympia, Budd Inlet starting with March 13, 2010.

Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible

Sa 13 High 4:55 AM 14.1 6:28 AM Rise 5:22 AM 7
13 Low 11:05 AM 5.0 6:14 PM Set 4:28 PM
13 High 4:13 PM 12.3
13 Low 10:39 PM 1.7

Su 14 High 6:10 AM 14.2 7:26 AM Rise 6:40 AM 3
14 Low 12:27 PM 4.1 7:16 PM Set 6:32 PM
14 High 5:55 PM 12.6



http://www.saltwatertides.com/cgi-local/washington.cgi