Cops Have No Clue Where Shantina Smiley And Her Son Are
Shantina Smiley and her 8-year-old son have been missing since Saturday.
March 16, 2010 — -- Searchers looking for a missing Washington state woman and her 8-year-old son who haven't been seen since Saturday say that the road leading to the beach where her submerged minivan was recovered is heavily timbered and very difficult to find without knowing the area.
"I couldn't even find the access road, and it was light out," said Lt. Chris Mealy of the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. "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.
Shantina Smiley, 29, and her son Azriel Carver were last seen Saturday evening driving from their home in Silverlake, Wash., to Smiley's stepfather's home 120 miles south in Castlerock, Wash. They left for their journey at approximately 5 p.m., said Mealy.
"It's day three and I'm still being really positive that she's going to show up," Smiley's fiance Robb Simmons told ABCNews.com. "I'm doing everything that I can do and if I could turn this state upside down and shake her out from wherever she is, I would."
Investigators found Smiley's wallet, ID card and credit card in the van, but no purse. There were also no overnight bags in the van, despite the fact that Smiley and her son were planning to go away for the weekend.
"We don't have a suspect because we don't know if it's a crime," said Mealy. "Our options are open. We're not saying it's foul play and we're not saying it's not, and we're not saying she didn't voluntary leave."
"We can't explain what the hell she was doing out there, if she was even out there at all," the lieutenant said.
Divers searched the waters for a second day Tuesday, but found nothing.
Asked whether it's possible that they got lost in the nearby woods, Mealy said that there are too many houses with porch lights on for them to not have been able to get help.
"This woman had no enemies, no history of domestic abuse and no spousal abuse. From all indications she was a very stable woman, a very loving woman," said Mealy. "And she had a job as a medical coder."
"I don't have any freaking clue what happened."
