Post by Scumhunter on Apr 6, 2015 23:16:49 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: unsolved.com)
One of the most bizarre murder mysteries ever profiled on tv (in my opinion) has been unsolved for nearly 18 years. The case aired on the August 1st, 2001 episode of Unsolved Mysteries. I believe it also aired on AMW (I have Judith Smith killer listed as a case on the January 16th, 1999 episode, so while Smith is a common name- it's likely the same person). The following is Unsolved Mysteries Wiki's description of the case:
"Fifty-year-old newlywed Judith "Judy" Smith was planning to go to Philadelphia with her husband of five months, Jeff, on a weekend trip for a pharmaceutical conference, when she forgot her ID at Boston's Logan International Airport on April 9, 1997. They then decided to travel separately and meet later that night. When they did, they went to their hotel room and made plans for the next day.
On April 10, she went sightseeing while he went to the conference, and that morning was the last time that he saw her alive. At 5:30pm, he came back to their hotel when he discovered that she was nowhere to be found. When she didn't come back that night, he began searching the route that she had taken that day while sightseeing. He soon notified the Philadelphia police and her children and they all began searching for her, but to no avail. Then, on September 7, 1997, a man and his son hiking in the woods near Asheville, North Carolina discovered the skeletal remains of a woman who had been stabbed to death. The remains were soon identified as hers, but a pair of Bolle's sunglasses and a blue backpack found with her body was not hers.
At first, nobody could not understand how she ended up in North Carolina, but some began to suggest that she may have left Philadelphia voluntarily and went there. Authorities found that the clothes she was wearing suggested that she was hiking in the area at the time, not that she had been dumped there. Several shop owners reported talking to a "Judy from Boston" in Asheville after she vanished and a hotel clerk even remembered her staying at the hotel from April 10-12. Police do not suspect Jeff in her disappearance and death, but despite his insistence that they were in good terms with their marriage and that she met with foul play in Philadelphia, police believe that she may have planned her disappearance, and met with foul play while hiking near Asheville. Investigators believe that the killer is not native to North Carolina, but may have ties to the area. Her killer has never been identified and the case remains unsolved.
Thoughts? It is rather strange to me that Judith suddenly disappears out of nowhere in Philadelphia and suddenly winds up dead in Asheville, North Carolina. A long way away. While some have mentioned amnesia as a possible explanation- I think the fact some people in Asheville mention talking to a "Judy from Boston" negates that. If she didn't know where she was- she wouldn't necessarily know her name either. In my opinion, as random as it is, either Judith went to Asheville on her own free will and wound up murdered, or what I think is another scenario- she was there to meet someone. I'm not suggesting she was cheating, so this doesn't have to be sex and/or relationship related, but perhaps she could have had a male or female friend that wanted her to come to town for whatever reason.
Admin Note #1: Based on crime scene location, our advice for anyone with information would be to call Buncombe County Crime Stoppers (North Carolina) at (828) 255-5050. Please contact site if you know of an more appropriate police contact point
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Judith_Smith
unsolved.com/archives/judy-smith