i'm just getting this info, will get more. mother was found murdered, girl is missing. suspect was live-in boyfriend of the mother's. child is in great danger according to police.
WSLS-TV
December 06, 2010
7:41 p.m.
Investigators now say both Brittany Smith and her mother Tina were last seen on Friday.
We've learned that Brittany's father works for the South Boston (VA)Police Department, and is working with investigators.
An autopsy on Tina is expected to be performed on Tuesday.
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4:07 update:
From State Police: Please be advised that Roanoke County has located the 2000 Chevrolet Blazer VA/XPR-4366.
The search is now focusing on the missing 2005 Silver Dodge VA XKF-2365, the make has been identified as a Neon.
2:19 p.m.
Roanoke County Police say the Amber Alert investigation also involves a possible homicide of the missing child's mother.
When Roanoke County officers arrived to the home on Fort Lewis Circle Monday morning around 9:30 a.m., they found a woman's body inside. Investigators identified the woman at 41-year-old Tina Smith, the mother of Brittany Smith.
Investigators now say Brittany was last seen several days ago, and that the suspected abductor of Brittany, Jeffrey Easley, was a friend of Tina's.
Police say Easley may be driving a 2000 red Chevrolet SUV with Virginia license plate XPR-4366.
Officers also say that Tina's car is missing, a silver 2005 Dodge four-door sedan with Virginia license plate XKF-2365.
Gazette-Virginian.
A missing 12-year-old Roanoke County girl, who is the subject of a statewide Amber Alert, and her deceased mother have local ties, according to Teresa Hamilton Hall, Roanoke County Police Department spokesperson.
Roanoke County Police found the body of 41-year-old Tina Dyer Smith Monday morning after they were called to her Fort Lewis Circle home in Salem, said Hall. While at the scene, police obtained information indicating that a female child was missing from the home, she added.
Virginia State Police issued an Amber Alert on Monday afternoon for 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith. She is described as 5 feet tall, weighing 100 pounds, with straight brown hair and brown eyes.
Brittany Smith is the daughter of South Boston (VA)Police Officer Benjamin H. Smith, said Hall. She and her mother lived in Halifax County before moving to Roanoke County several years ago.
Roanoke County Police are not saying how or when Tina Smith died, but they are treating it as a possible homicide. Tina Smith’s co-workers contacted police Monday morning, Hall said.
State Police said Brittany Mae Smith is believed to be in extreme danger and was last seen Thursday, Dec. 2. The child was likely abducted by 32-year-old Jeffrey Scott Easley, a white male, 5’11” tall, weighing 265 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes, said state police.
Easley was a friend of Tina Smith, said the Roanoke County spokesperson.
They may be traveling in a 2000 red Chevrolet SUV, Virginia license XPR-4366. The mother’s vehicle, a silver 2005 Dodge four-door sedan Virginia license XKF-2365, also is missing, state police said.
Anyone with information about this case should contact the Roanoke County Police Department at 540-777-8641 or the Virginia State Police at 800-822-4453.
WDBJ
SALEM, Va —
We're learning more about the woman who was found murdered inside her Roanoke County home. Authorities found the body of 41 year old Tina Smith Monday morning. Her 12 year old daughter Brittany is missing and is believed to have been abducted by 32 year old Jeffrey Scott Easley.
News 7 has learned Tina Smith worked at Richfield Retirement Community in Salem. A spokesperson says Smith worked there for about four years. She was a RN who coordinated care plans for residents. A spokesperson says Smith was a really pleasant person.
A spokesperson tells News 7 two employees went to Smith's home and found her dead after becoming concerned when she didn't show up for work. A spokesperson for Richfield Retirement Community says it is making resources available for people who are having trouble dealing with Smith's death.
this little girl had myspace and facebook pages (can't see them now) where she called herself by the suspect's last name. and it wasn't filial. a local reporter (Nicole Partin) said there were concerns about what was going on between the little girl and easley and the mom was going to move him out. shit.
i hope she wasn't witness to her mother's death. or worse.
his page shows this pic of himself with the child. wtf
i also want to know how they took 2 cars?? she's only 12. was there an accomplice?
the child has not been seen since friday, but it was only noticed/reported she was gone today. so there are a few days lead time.
Someone had posted this amber alert on FB and I had no idea the mother had been killed. Good Lord. This doesn't sound good, and that little girl does NOT look 12. She looks much older.
It doesn't matter how old she looks, she's still 12. I want to choke parents who let their 12 year olds walk around with their boobs and ass cheeks hanging out. It's fucking ridiculous.
I hope the little girl didn't have any participation in what happened, passive or otherwise. Twelve years old isn't old enough to understand how truly fucked up some things are.
(03-15-2013, 07:12 PM)aussiefriend Wrote: You see Duchess, I have set up a thread to discuss something and this troll is behaving just like Riotgear did.
men will often get involved with women to get next to their real target, the underage child.
i have to wonder if that's what played out here. whether he was grooming the girl.
if he is involved with her, there's a chance he may not harm her. but murder is in the mix now (once mom's cause of death is determined) and self-preservation may overrule pedo lust. the girl is probably a witness.
the mom just met easley online in the summer, and he moved in in october. i am so bothered by women who let men in their homes with their young daughters, i have seen this over and over again.
NEWS 7
WDBJ7
spoke with his former father-in-law who says Roanoke County Police have contacted him, and say Easley might be in North Carolina.
He also said he has family in the Martinsville area.
Easley was married in 2000, but divorced a short time after.
He also lived in Alabama before coming to Virginia.
PRESSER:
Authorities in Roanoke County believe 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith is still in grave danger and are appealing to her friends for information.
Smith is believed to be with 32-year-old Jeffrey Scott Easley, a friend of her mothers who she met online this summer. Easley moved into Tina Smith's home in October. Tina Smith was found dead Monday in her home on Fort Lewis Circle.
When asked if Brittany Mae Smith was abducted, Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder answered that they feel confident that she is with Easley. EVASIVE REPLY. did she go voluntarily?
Easley has family in Eastern North Carolina and Alabama. Police are checking in both areas for any recent sightings of Easley.
Hundreds of tips have been coming in two Virginia State Police and local authorities. Chief Lavinder says these tips have been helpful and asked the public to continue to call and email. A new email address [email protected] has been set up to help handle the tips coming in.
Chief Lavinder is also asking for people to be on the lookout for the 2005 Silver Dodge Neon, VA XKF-2365, Tina Smith's missing car.
WDBJ7
In a news conference Tuesday afternoon Roanoke County police said Brittany Mae Smith and Jeff Easley were seen in Walmart in Salem Friday night. Police have surveillance video of the pair shopping at the store between 8:00pm and 8:30pm.
Authorities say 32-year-old Jeff Easley used Tina Smith's credit card to purchase items in Walmart. Salem Police have issued warrants for Easley for credit card fraud and credit card larceny.
Jeff Easley's mother, Sallie, made a plea directly to her son to contact her or police. She urged Jeff to take Brittany to a safe place and return her. She told her son that she loved him.
Police say the first phase of the autopsy on Tina Smith has been completed and they are now treating the case as a homicide investigation. Police would not reveal of cause of death.
Authorities have received more than two-hundred tips since the investigation began. They are now hoping shoppers who were in Walmart in Salem on Friday night will call them and give details about seeing Jeff Easley and Brittany Mae Smith in the store.
i've expressed concern throughout this thread that the child may be complicit in this. it has happened before.
but if she is, she was groomed and led, seduced and manipulated. coerced, perhaps threatened.
12 is sure old enough to commit a crime, and i have seen hints of the possibility in the reports. especially in interpreting the Chief's comments.
but at this point she is a kidnap victim even if she went willingly, because she cannot give consent by law.
i hope she gets back safely. then if she is involved in mom's death, a whole new ball game.
(12-07-2010, 01:31 PM)Lady Cop Wrote: the mom just met easley online in the summer, and he moved in in october. i am so bothered by women who let men in their homes with their young daughters, i have seen this over and over again.
Yeah, people are too fucking needy. Why move in a man who has to use your debit card at Walmart? If you are going to be a whore, go for the rich dudes.
(03-15-2013, 07:12 PM)aussiefriend Wrote: You see Duchess, I have set up a thread to discuss something and this troll is behaving just like Riotgear did.
(12-07-2010, 01:31 PM)Lady Cop Wrote: the mom just met easly online in the summer, and he moved in in october. i am so bothered by women who let men in their homes with their young daughters, i have seen this over and over again.
Yeah, people are too fucking needy. Why move in a man who has to use your debit card at Walmart? If you are going to be a whore, go for the rich dudes.
the question is, was she dead at that time and he stole the card? i suspect so.
As the massive search continued Tuesday for missing 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith of Salem, and an autopsy was being conducted on her mother, Tina Louise Dyer Smith, relatives and friends in South Boston prayed fervently for the young girl’s safe return and questioned whether this tragic turn of events somehow could have been prevented.
Roanoke County Police found the body of the 41-year-old former Halifax County resident Monday when they were called to her Fort Lewis Circle home in Salem.
While at the scene, police obtained information indicating Smith’s 12-year-old daughter was missing.
An Amber Alert was issued Monday afternoon for the young girl who had called South Boston home up until four years ago prior to her parents’ divorce.
Her father, Benjamin H. Smith, is a South Boston Police officer.
The series of tragic events have left the community reeling as relatives and friends of the family anxiously await any word of Brittany’s whereabouts.
The victim’s mother and missing girl’s grandmother, Liz Dyer of South Boston, said Tuesday she continues to wait for any information on her granddaughter’s safety.
“Police have not told us anything,” she said speaking from her Eastover Drive home.
“We know she was beaten, and they’re doing an autopsy,” she said of speaking her late daughter, Tina.
Dyer said she only met Brittany’s suspected abductor, Jeffrey Scott Easley, one time.
But she was quick to add, “We didn’t like what we saw.”
The worried grandmother said she had been unaware Easley was living with her daughter and granddaughter until two weeks ago when they came home for Thanksgiving.
“I saw him for the first time Thanksgiving,” and Dyer said what the family saw that day concerned members enough to prompt them to contact Social Services.
Dyer’s sister, who asked not to be identified, said she hosted the family’s Thanksgiving gathering attended by Tina, Brittany and Easley at her home in the county.
“He kept touching her (Brittany’s) hair, caressing her, touching her hand and consuming her with his eyes,” she said. “Normally I would have said something then and there, but the house was full of people.”
The aunt, who was contacted by Headline News’ Nancy Grace for her Monday night program on the missing girl, explained several days after the Thanksgiving dinner she called her niece (Tina) in Salem to express her concerns.
“I called Tina, and she said ‘he’s leaving right away.’ I told her to call me when he left. After she said he was leaving, I thought things were ok,” the aunt continued.
Social Services contacted
The concerned relative said she attempted to report her concerns to Social Services in Halifax County because “she didn’t know where to start.”
She also dialed an 800 number for child abuse to provide information about her concerns.
“The lady said she would relay the information to Salem Social Services but told me it would be better if I called them directly. I called Salem Social Services and gave them this information Friday, but by that time it was too late,” she said.
The last time the aunt said she talked with Tina was the week after Thanksgiving on either Monday or Tuesday.
“She was to call me when he left, but she never called,” she reiterated.
Although family members said they were unclear how Smith and Easley met, authorities confirmed Tuesday it was through an online Internet relationship.
The aunt described Brittany as a child who always has loved attention.
“And he was paying her a lot of attention,” she said.
as of 0630 today Chief had nothing new from overnight. no word on mother's cause of death, and had not released walmart video.
with the national publicity these two are high-profile. i wonder if they are camped in the woods somewhere. anyone hiding them would have to be an idiot.
edit later to add, from Atlanta Journal Constitution, noon:
ROANOKE, Va. — A police chief in Virginia says he believes someone may be hiding a 12-year-old girl and a man she disappeared with after the child's mother was found dead.
Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder also said Wednesday morning that a warrant has been issued charging 32-year-old Jeffrey Scott Easley with abduction.
Lavinder said at a news conference that Easley and Brittany Mae Smith seemed to "just drop off the face of the Earth" without much money. That's why he thinks someone is helping Easley evade a nationwide search.
OK i just got home and heard this...as i suggested above, they may be camping. Chief held a presser while i was out. they bought a tent on that walmart trip.
also, photos below of easley's tattoos and tent he bought.
WDBJ7
Jeff Easley, the man police believe abducted 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith, bought camping equipment including a blue Ozark Trail domed tent at Walmart in Salem Friday night.
Police are asking the public to look out for this tent as well as the 2005 Dodge Neon he is believed to be using.
Easley and Brittany Smith were caught on surveillance tape at the Salem Walmart. Easley used Brittany's mother's credit card at Walmart. Tina Smith was found dead in her home Monday morning.
In addition to the tent, Roanoke Co. Police chief Ray Lavinder says the pair bought other camping equipment and some bottled drinks.
Police also shared photos of Easley's tattoos in Wednesday afternoon's news conference. They say Easley has a red star tattoo as well as one that police describe as a black tribal sign.
Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder says the search for Brittany Mae Smith is moving well beyond Virginia into North Carolina, Alabama, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Amber alerts for the 12-year-old have been issued all of those states.
8:45 PM, late presser just finished. nothing new. the child's cousin and aunt spoke to Brittany and said they were praying for her to be home for Christmas.
WDBJ
Speaking directly to 12-year-old Brittany Mae Smith through the media, members of her family tearfully asked her to come home to them.
Her cousin, Kim Stephenson, told her that she loved her unconditionally. She said "I pray for you everyday and will continue to pray for you."
Brittany's aunt, Carolyn Stephenson, asked her to come home to Christmas cookies and "to open all your presents under the tree."
The family members who traveled to Roanoke County for the news conference were part of Brittany's father's side of the family. Her father works for the South Boston VA police department.
it has been reported that the mother of the murdered woman was so concerned after she met easley on Thanksgiving, that she reported the situation to child protective services. and that nothing was done. i am sure that claim will be investigated. a woman is dead.
what the hell! privacy be damned, they need to assist the authorities, it's life or death.
so the FBI will subpeona what they need.
fucking facebook and myspace can't assure their members' privacy half the time, but they will block LE in a case like this??
i loathe those damn sites.
WDBJ
Police are looking everywhere for answers to find Brittany Mae Smith, including the Internet. Investigators believe Smith and Jeff Easley's Facebook and My Space accounts could provide clues to help the investigation.
"We have made a number of attempts to get into the site," said Roanoke County Police Chief Ray Lavinder. "We had some success late this morning."
Gaining access to the sites has not been easy, however, because according to Lavinder, Facebook and My Space have denied police full access. "They granted us limited information to those sites," Lavinder said at a 3:30pm Wednesday press conference. "We'll pursue whatever options are available to get that data."
Meanwhile a site has gone up on Facebook urging Facebook to give up that information. Another site has been created as well. It's called 'Help Find Brittany Mae Smith.' More than 4,000 people have joined that site already, however, according to Hollins University Media Professor Vladimir Bratic "a whole lot fewer people are actually contributing to it."
Bratic said social media websites make it easy for people to feel like they're involved even if they really aren't. "With very little sacrifice. It's just one click away and you become part of a cause," Bratic said. "You feel validated for what you are doing by participating in all of this."
Many people have expressed condolences regarding Tina Smith's murder and others have used Facebook to 'talk' about the case. Bratic believes this is all simply a new way of doing something very old.
"They were sort of kitchen table water cooler kind of conversations that we had with a few people privately but now these conversations are no longer private they're happening with lots and lots of people," Bratic said.
Meanwhile the laws that would allow investigators to gain access to websites may not be keeping up with the technology.
The U.S. Attorney's office is now involved in the case. A spokesperson there told News 7 because they are involved in the case they can't talk about it.
A spokesperson did say getting information from across state lines such as from Facebook that's headquartered in California would fall to federal authorities.
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