Cold and Missing: Chance Smith

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,780
The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.

2
00:00:13,780 --> 00:00:18,400
All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

3
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,160
Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages.

4
00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,560
Listener discretion is advised.

5
00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,280
I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.

6
00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,680
And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.

7
00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,580
And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases.

8
00:00:32,580 --> 00:00:34,280
And missing person cases.

9
00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,560
Hello everyone and welcome back.

10
00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:37,560
Welcome back everyone.

11
00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,040
I am Eli.

12
00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:40,280
And I'm Ali.

13
00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,320
And this is Cold and Missing.

14
00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,080
I think this is episode 48.

15
00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:46,080
It is episode 48.

16
00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:47,760
You want to just take us right in?

17
00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:48,920
Yeah, let's get into it.

18
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:49,920
Let's do it.

19
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,800
So today I have for you a cold case.

20
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:58,240
And just as a content warning at the top, this case does involve a young person.

21
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:03,200
Today we are going to be talking about the cold case of Chance Douglas Smith.

22
00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:09,240
And this takes place in December of 2003 in Locust, North Carolina.

23
00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:11,640
But first a little bit about Chance.

24
00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,100
Chance is six years old in 2003.

25
00:01:14,100 --> 00:01:16,780
He was born June 11th, 1997.

26
00:01:16,780 --> 00:01:19,360
And he would be 26 years old today.

27
00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:24,520
Chance was a kindergartner at Stanfield Elementary School where he was recently named student

28
00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:25,520
of the week.

29
00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,400
As a student of the week there was a bulletin board with his picture and his favorite things

30
00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:30,520
listed.

31
00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,760
These are Chance's favorite things.

32
00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:33,880
The mountains.

33
00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,640
Macaroni and cheese.

34
00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:36,640
Rock music.

35
00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:37,640
Hardee's.

36
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:38,640
Zebras.

37
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,020
The color orange.

38
00:01:41,020 --> 00:01:42,020
And playing outside.

39
00:01:42,020 --> 00:01:46,320
Chance's 17 year old cousin said quote, he was always happy.

40
00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:47,920
He wasn't scared of nothing.

41
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:49,880
He played football, basketball.

42
00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:51,140
He could shoot pool.

43
00:01:51,140 --> 00:01:54,000
He could ride a four wheeler like crazy.

44
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:55,840
Everywhere I went he went.

45
00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:56,840
End quote.

46
00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,440
His family said that Chance was so good at pool he could easily beat people three times

47
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,720
his age even though he could barely just see over the table.

48
00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:10,920
Chance loved the outdoors and by all accounts was a very happy child.

49
00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:13,480
And now a timeline of events.

50
00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:19,000
On Saturday, December 13th, 2003, Chance is spending the weekend with his grandparents

51
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,920
in Locust, North Carolina.

52
00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:27,000
This is a rural community with a population of around 3,000 at this time.

53
00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,640
It's about 20 minutes outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.

54
00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:35,120
Chance is playing outside with a family dog while his grandfather, Randall, worked on

55
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:36,120
an engine.

56
00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,920
At one point, Randall stepped inside to grab something for the engine he was working on.

57
00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:46,080
At around 2:30 p.m., a neighbor reported that they saw Chance follow the family dog into

58
00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:47,360
the woods.

59
00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:50,920
Chance was a child that was comfortable in the woods but he usually had an adult with

60
00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:51,920
him.

61
00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,600
When Randall comes back outside, Chance is gone.

62
00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,640
Randall says, quote, I hollered, Chance?

63
00:02:57,640 --> 00:02:58,640
He didn't answer.

64
00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:01,600
I took off down through the woods after him.

65
00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,200
Four or five of my buddies started calling him too.

66
00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:05,200
End quote.

67
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:10,020
Now near Chance's grandparents' house, there were neighbors close by.

68
00:03:10,020 --> 00:03:15,360
So from this quote, I take it to mean that Randall did call some friends or neighbors

69
00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:20,720
to help search for Chance right around that 2:30 mark when Chance goes missing.

70
00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,880
After searching the woods, Randall's friends convinced him to go back to the house and

71
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:26,160
call police.

72
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,420
So at 3:44, the family reports him missing.

73
00:03:29,420 --> 00:03:35,120
This is just over an hour after Chance was last seen walking into the woods.

74
00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:41,080
Very quickly, police, firefighters, and over 100 volunteers from the community, some reports

75
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:46,320
even say it was around 150, they all spring into action to search for Chance.

76
00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:51,240
They have volunteers with dogs, and they even talk about launching a helicopter for an aerial

77
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,240
search, but the weather doesn't allow for this.

78
00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,840
More people start to show up to help search for Chance, but police organizers turn them

79
00:03:58,840 --> 00:03:59,920
away.

80
00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:05,000
Police tell them that they want to preserve the area as a possible crime scene, just in

81
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:06,000
case.

82
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,440
At this time, they have no evidence that a crime has occurred.

83
00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:14,200
A member of Chance's family, his name is Joe Proctor, says, quote, you had a couple

84
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,160
hundred people standing around doing nothing.

85
00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,300
Most of us grew up around here and we farmed on this land.

86
00:04:20,300 --> 00:04:21,760
We know our way around.

87
00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:23,160
We could have helped.

88
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:24,960
It's just frustrating.

89
00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,080
What is more important, a six-year-old's life or preserving a crime scene that they

90
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:30,640
didn't know yet?

91
00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:31,640
End quote.

92
00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:38,880
At around 11:30 p.m., nine hours after Chance was last seen, a line of searchers find Chance

93
00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,080
face down in a horse pasture.

94
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,840
The pasture where he is found is less than a mile from his grandparents' home.

95
00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:49,200
He had what was described as a blow to the head.

96
00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:53,800
When searchers found him, he did not have a pulse and he was not breathing, but he was

97
00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:58,520
still rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors worked to try to revive him.

98
00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:05,080
But on Sunday, December 14, 2003, at 3:08 in the morning, Chance is pronounced dead.

99
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:10,000
Randall, his grandfather, had been close to where Chance was found earlier that day.

100
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,840
He says, quote, if they hadn't called me back from where I was, I would have found him in

101
00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:15,120
five minutes.

102
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:16,560
I was with the search party.

103
00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,560
I was just about 75 feet from him when we found him.

104
00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:21,640
End quote.

105
00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:26,060
Police are calling Chance's death an unattended death and tell the media they are going to

106
00:05:26,060 --> 00:05:30,280
wait for the autopsy results, but they are suspicious.

107
00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:35,040
Locust police chief Mike Haigler says, quote, for a six-year-old, it would have been a lot

108
00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,000
of work to traverse all that.

109
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,120
We've got a lot of questions right now.

110
00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:40,120
End quote.

111
00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:42,240
Randall believes it was an accident.

112
00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,680
He says, quote, it was an accident.

113
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,800
I don't feel like it was anything more than an accident.

114
00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:48,800
End quote.

115
00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:53,480
Family and friends are confused as to why it took nearly eight hours to find him when

116
00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:56,200
he was less than a mile from the home.

117
00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:00,800
Rumors begin circulating that Chance died of hypothermia from getting lost and it taking

118
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,560
too long to find him.

119
00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:09,000
Also because he was located in a horse pasture, there are also rumors that he died as a result

120
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,300
of getting kicked in the head by a horse.

121
00:06:12,300 --> 00:06:19,520
On Monday, December 15th, Chance's autopsy is conducted and police publicly start to say

122
00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:25,400
that the death is accidental, but behind the scenes, the police feel it is still a suspicious

123
00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:26,400
death.

124
00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,240
The Locust police start to put together a task force to be on standby in the event there

125
00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,240
is foul play detected.

126
00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:37,940
Again, police chief Haigler says, quote, there are too many questions out there.

127
00:06:37,940 --> 00:06:42,600
If you write it off as accidental, you find out you have to backtrack later.

128
00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:43,600
End quote.

129
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:48,120
The task force is made up of not only Locust police, but the Stanley County Sheriff and

130
00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,440
the State Bureau of Investigation.

131
00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:56,000
The next day, Tuesday, December 16th, police get the autopsy results back and the case

132
00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:01,800
is officially ruled a homicide and police have no doubts about the results.

133
00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:07,100
Police won't go into specifics, but they do say that Chance died due to traumatic injuries

134
00:07:07,100 --> 00:07:08,480
to the head.

135
00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:13,240
Lieutenant James InMan says, quote, the medical examiner had no questions about the

136
00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:14,560
nature of death.

137
00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:15,560
End quote.

138
00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:21,400
While homicide is rare for Locust, North Carolina, Chance's murder will be the only one in recent

139
00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:22,460
history.

140
00:07:22,460 --> 00:07:25,760
Police do believe that it is an isolated incident.

141
00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,640
Officer Steve Ridenhour says, quote, I don't think parents should have any fears of there's

142
00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,000
just a killer on the loose running through the neighborhood.

143
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:35,000
End quote.

144
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:40,040
Police begin conducting interviews and following leads well past midnight, but they don't

145
00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:42,920
have any theories or suspects at this point.

146
00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:48,400
And on Wednesday, December 17th, Chance's funeral is held and he's laid to rest.

147
00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:53,340
Around 200 people attend the service and Chance's principal brought cards that his classmates

148
00:07:53,340 --> 00:07:54,400
had made.

149
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,280
They said things like, we had fun playing together.

150
00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,720
I remember Chance and me building sand castles and throwing sand at each other.

151
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,080
Chance sat at my table.

152
00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,120
I miss him so much.

153
00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:10,520
And then after Chance's funeral, it appears that the case goes cold.

154
00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:16,160
The media stops reporting on it and there isn't even the yearly updates that we tend

155
00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,280
to see in these cold cases.

156
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:22,200
The next update that I could find comes from December 2008.

157
00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,120
So this would be five years after Chance's murder.

158
00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:30,320
The Stanley News and Press talk with the Locust police chief, Mike Haigler, who says that they

159
00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:35,680
have had many leads and that they have a lot of information about the suspect, but they

160
00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:39,720
don't go into specifics of who the suspect is.

161
00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,160
Police Chief Hagler then says this about Randall, Chance's grandfather.

162
00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:50,000
Quote, we know he knows who it is, but for what reason he is not willing to cooperate

163
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:51,000
with us.

164
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:52,400
End quote.

165
00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:57,920
And it's also been revealed after the fact that through the investigation, they believe

166
00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:03,080
that Chance was murdered in a different location than the horse pasture and then later placed

167
00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:04,080
there.

168
00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:09,120
But when they came to this conclusion and how is unclear, but this is information that

169
00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:16,680
the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation has put out on Chance's poster for information

170
00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:18,160
wanted.

171
00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:23,240
And with that, if you know anything about the murder of Chance Smith in December of

172
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:31,560
2003, please call the Locust police at 704-888-4744.

173
00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:36,760
And the sources for the timeline today come from the Charlotte Observer, Winston Salem

174
00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:42,840
Journal, the News and Observer, News and Record, the Herald Sun, the Stanley News and Press,

175
00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:47,440
medium.com and the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation.

176
00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:50,800
So that is the case of Chance Smith.

177
00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,400
Wow.

178
00:09:54,400 --> 00:10:00,520
Always painful, you know, to hear about the loss of a child in any capacity.

179
00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,800
But especially like this.

180
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:10,600
The first thing I heard in my head was to know the true existence of like the purity

181
00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:12,240
in a miracle.

182
00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:18,280
There is the existence of the purity and Ev- in evil.

183
00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:20,840
That's what this like felt like to me and hearing it.

184
00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,520
That's just pure.

185
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:29,360
It's just pure evil, loss, unfair, like everything that's wrong about it.

186
00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,600
It's like turned all the way up to 100%.

187
00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:40,120
There's like nothing you can, you know, within like moments, a handful of moments, like it's

188
00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,280
for a second you walked in the house.

189
00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,720
Yeah, that's one thing that I couldn't get over.

190
00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:53,640
You know, a lot of times cases we cover, maybe there's some delay and usually it's the police's

191
00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:54,640
reaction.

192
00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:55,640
You know, they delay.

193
00:10:55,640 --> 00:11:01,800
But here, you know, family, friends, neighbors, it seems like we're instantly in the woods

194
00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:03,920
looking for him.

195
00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:10,880
Which also makes me think that this makes me I just feel disgusted about this.

196
00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,360
I'm like, was someone just watching him and like waiting?

197
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:19,440
You know, I mean, pretty much any forest I think you can go just a couple feet in and

198
00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,440
disappear.

199
00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:27,760
And that disgusts me because when you are an adult, like one trauma in your life is

200
00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:31,880
like taught you to like be afraid and look out for yourself, you know, that's like you

201
00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:37,720
you're taking advantage of like the innocence of someone like enjoying whatever, you know,

202
00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:39,880
a six year old enjoying nature.

203
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:44,960
And again, the presence of like how truly evil that would be.

204
00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:49,640
Yeah, you know, the family responded really quickly and we're in the woods relatively

205
00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:54,240
quickly after chance was last seen, you know, the grandfather steps inside, he comes back,

206
00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,960
hollers for him, goes in after him.

207
00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,720
But then, you know, just a little bit over an hour later, they call the police, the police

208
00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,120
respond in a way that we kind of always want them to respond.

209
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:06,120
They take it seriously.

210
00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,080
You know, they they're there.

211
00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:09,080
Firefighters are there.

212
00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:10,800
The community shows up.

213
00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,440
You know, they have volunteer dogs.

214
00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,080
They talk about trying to get a helicopter up like that.

215
00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:19,480
That's the kind of response that we want when anybody is missing.

216
00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:24,160
But if a child goes missing, you know, it doesn't matter if you think they ran away.

217
00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:29,240
Like I'm using air quotes right now, but it's like we need to find children that go missing.

218
00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:30,240
Period.

219
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:31,240
End of story.

220
00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:32,240
That's how I feel.

221
00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:33,240
Yeah.

222
00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:37,460
And researching this these types of cases quite a bit like you don't see a response

223
00:12:37,460 --> 00:12:39,080
this big that often.

224
00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:42,680
Like initially, you said like 3000 people.

225
00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:43,680
Mm hmm.

226
00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:44,680
Yeah.

227
00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:45,840
You said like 200 people showed up.

228
00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:46,840
That's a lot.

229
00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:50,840
That's like even home bodies that were like, it's time.

230
00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:52,720
I've seen him out my window or whatever.

231
00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:57,000
You know, like those people like, no, no.

232
00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,840
And you know, the police also kind of take it a step further in the beginning.

233
00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,840
And they start turning people away just like, you know, there's too many people.

234
00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,800
We we don't want to destroy a potential crime scene.

235
00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:10,640
Can I ask your opinion on something?

236
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:11,640
Sure.

237
00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:18,000
So I also had the thought maybe it was it was an accidental death, but did involve other

238
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,000
people.

239
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:26,960
Like if, say, he was inside the house and like somehow fell, maybe no one was even in

240
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:27,960
the room.

241
00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:28,960
He fell.

242
00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:33,440
And like, you know, kids, while they're resilient, they are also still very small.

243
00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:38,520
If you fall from high enough up, say a flight of stairs hit the back of your head.

244
00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,480
Yes, you can die on impact.

245
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:46,400
An adult boom, an adult walks in the room, sees it, thinks what exactly the response

246
00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:56,400
is, you know, does like a very random thing in like, I mean, it wouldn't be my first response.

247
00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:00,960
But we have seen things like this before, you know, where people just are like, I want

248
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:02,320
to take care of the mess.

249
00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,240
I want to hide it.

250
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:05,640
So like something like that.

251
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:12,200
Or he was playing with other kids and like something happened or someone like hit him

252
00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,840
and hit him way too hard.

253
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:16,840
Or yeah, you know, something like that.

254
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,920
I guess I was wondering, did you think that was a possibility?

255
00:14:20,920 --> 00:14:23,480
Yeah, I do think that's a possibility.

256
00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:27,880
So there are some rumors in this case that aren't printed in any reputable news sources.

257
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,240
So I didn't want to include them in the official timeline.

258
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:34,880
This is just like things I saw on social media, in the comment sections of stories, things

259
00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:35,880
like that.

260
00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:42,000
And, you know, a rumor that has persisted over the years is that Chance wasn't alone,

261
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,280
that he was playing with another kid.

262
00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:47,880
The kid hit him too hard, hurt him.

263
00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:51,480
And then, you know, he tried to cover it up and the family figured out what happened.

264
00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:58,640
And so they tried to protect this nameless faceless, very much a rumor, very much not

265
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:03,000
substantiated by any reputable news source, but that they try that the family is trying

266
00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,600
to protect this other kid.

267
00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,960
Yeah, I mean, the cops say he knows.

268
00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:14,080
That is a very confident statement for law enforcement to make publicly to say, I mean,

269
00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:20,720
those people, I assume I didn't I couldn't remember if you said if they are still alive

270
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:21,720
or not.

271
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:28,440
But like, I assume not in prison, like, yeah, there's never been an arrest around chances

272
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:29,440
murder.

273
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:30,440
That's that's loud.

274
00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:36,160
That like puts a very pressurized like target on that person.

275
00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:37,160
You know?

276
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:38,160
Yeah.

277
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,220
And chances grandfather from everything I have learned has moved out of the area.

278
00:15:42,220 --> 00:15:44,640
They bring him back in for questioning.

279
00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,840
But it's also one of those things where like, yes, that's a very competent thing for police

280
00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:49,840
to say.

281
00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:56,240
But like, also, like the police are saying we have a lot of leads, and that they know

282
00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,720
a lot about the suspect, but they don't have enough to like prove it beyond a reasonable

283
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:01,720
doubt.

284
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:09,000
So part of me just feels like they're kind of publicly saying it to put pressure on the

285
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:13,160
grandfather to come up with information that maybe he just doesn't have because he doesn't

286
00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:14,160
know.

287
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:15,160
Yeah.

288
00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:16,160
Yeah, it's just one of those things.

289
00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,960
It's like, well, if you have all that information, and you have all these leads, and you know,

290
00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,780
you know, all of this, then like, why does it matter if this person is not cooperating

291
00:16:24,780 --> 00:16:25,780
or not?

292
00:16:25,780 --> 00:16:29,480
You should be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt without them.

293
00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,240
Well, thank you for sharing this case.

294
00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:39,480
I'm looking forward to making those graphics that help like be help the people become more

295
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:40,480
visible.

296
00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:47,520
And I just would love that for chance and the family and to get this case back out there.

297
00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:54,440
Yeah, I wasn't able to find like any public pleas from the family asking for information.

298
00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:01,280
But what I did seem to find a lot of was chances classmates asking for information, kids he

299
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:06,520
had gone to school with, you know, remember him from kindergarten and are still looking

300
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,480
for answers are still searching to find out what happened to them.

301
00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:16,800
Yeah, I would imagine that a quite a bit of those kids turned into, you know, people similar

302
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,680
to us.

303
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:20,680
And some maybe not.

304
00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,240
But yeah, that that makes sense.

305
00:17:23,240 --> 00:17:28,680
So if you know anything about the murder of champ Smith in December of 2003, please call

306
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:35,600
the Locus police at 704-888-4744.

307
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:40,580
And we will be posting those beautiful graphics on our Instagram.

308
00:17:40,580 --> 00:17:45,000
You can find us there if you just search cold and missing will pop right up and we'll have

309
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,600
some photos of chance that I was able to find during the course of my research.

310
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:54,600
And if you pop over to our website, cold and missing calm, not only do we have all our

311
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,600
episodes up there, but we also have transcripts up there.

312
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:03,520
So if you are somebody who maybe likes to read your podcasts or know somebody who is

313
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:08,000
hard of hearing or deaf, you can always pass that along to them and they can join us in

314
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:09,400
that way.

315
00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,920
Before you go to your next show, if you could just leave us a review five stars a thumbs

316
00:18:13,920 --> 00:18:21,400
up if you're an Apple podcasts, leaving us a written review helps our visibility tremendously.

317
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,960
Thank you if you've already left us a review.

318
00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:29,120
We appreciate each one because it takes time out of your day and I appreciate your time.

319
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:34,000
That's all we have for you this episode and this week, but we'll be back at it next week.

320
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,160
So have a good week and stay safe, y'all.

321
00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:44,320
Stay safe, y'all.