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A woman is found dead in North Carolina after vanishing in Philadelphia.  Judy Smith  Judy’s remains were found 700 miles away CASE DETAILS  After arriving in Philadelphia, she vanished In 1997, Judy Smith decided to accompany her husband, Jeff, to a work conference in Philadelphia. Before their flight was to depart, Judy realized she had forgotten her driver’s license and was forced to take a later flight. Jeff reluctantly agreed and the two met up in Philadelphia later that night. The next day Judy went sightseeing while Jeff attended his conference. According to Jeff, Judy was to meet him at their hotel at 5:00 PM:
Jeff contacted the local hospitals and police. When nothing turned up, he searched Philadelphia by taxi. According to Jeff, he traced the path of the tour bus Judy had planned to ride that day:
 Investigators found a blue and black backpack Months went by, but there was no trace of Judy Smith. The Philadelphia police were just as perplexed as her husband. They could find no evidence she had been murdered or abducted. But Judy’ daughter, Amy Hartford, was convinced her mother had an accident or worse, developed amnesia:
On the day she vanished, Judy set out for her day of sightseeing at 9:00 AM. As always, she carried her belongings in her trademark red backpack. She had told Jeff she planned to visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. Whatever caused Judy to vanish occurred during the next eight hours. After the Philadelphia police turned up no trace of Judy, Jeff had no choice but to return home to Boston. From his office, he faxed and mailed 9,000 flyers about Judy up and down the Eastern seaboard. He also hired three private investigators. But according to Jeff, they uncovered no significant clues.  Expensive sunglasses were recovered Then, five months after Judy had vanished, a father and son noticed something strange while hiking near Asheville, North Carolina. According to Lieutenant Sam Constance of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department, they found a partially buried skeleton which animals had strewn over a 100 yard area:
Police requested Judy’s dental records after seeing Jeff’s “missing” flyers in the area. Forensics confirmed that they were the remains of Judy Smith. Judy’s daughter Amy was in a state of disbelief:
No one could understand how Judy ended up so far away from Philadelphia. Authorities found Judy’s diamond wedding ring and $167 in cash at the crime scene. They concluded that robbery was not the motive. But police had another clue. Four eyewitnesses in Asheville claimed to have seen Judy just days after she vanished. One of them was retail clerk, Joanne Stucker:
But if Judy left Philadelphia of her own free will, the question was why. Judy’s friend, Carolyn Dickey, had her own theory for Judy’s disappearance:
According to Lieutenant Constance, investigators found two clues suggesting what might have happened to Judy:
What scenario resulted in Judy’s murder in an isolated area of North Carolina? Who stabbed her, then left her in a shallow grave? Was it a stranger, or someone she may have schemed to meet in Asheville? Unfortunately, North Carolina investigators still have no idea why Judy Smith was killed. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season twelve with Robert Stack and in season one with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. |
Birdie
This is an interesting murder mystery. I’m so intrigued to know what really happened and why Judy’s body was found 600 miles away in North Carolina. Was she killed beforehand and dumped there? Or did she travel to NC, then get killed there? How did she get there? Bus, plane, hitch-hike, etc. Maybe she took one of those cheap China buses. Maybe she booked a plane ticket from Philly to NC before her trip to Philly without informing her husband. Maybe she hitch-hiked or asked someone for a ride in the Philadelphia area and became a victim. Why did she act erratically when meeting the Macy’s clerk and others? So many unanswered questions.
Concerned Citizen
I would look at LISK suspect, Rex Heurrmann. I even called one of the detectives in this case and he didn’t even k ow who Rex was… I have looked into this quite a bit and he fits the bill.
Tom
Why is this in unexplained deaths and not unsolved murders?
Ginger Spice
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Smith_homicide
It has been speculated that she might have been a victim of serial killer Gary Michael Hilton, who had left one of his victims in a similar condition near where Smith’s body was discovered.
Anonymous
I agree 100 percent.
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Bill Blaski
One of the creepiest cases on unsolved mysteries. Judy was supposed to be in New York with her husband. Her body ends up in NC woods? A shop keeper talks to her and can confirm she was alone and not being held against her will. Did she meet a man in NC who ultimately killed her? I keep seeing reports about a guy who they called the national park Forrest killer. Could this be him? Surely she had DNA on the body etc. any updates???
Jason
Angie, what is the name of the other victim and when did it happen?
Graham
This one is so bizarre. I think Judy was in Ashville, but why? Tourist?
Jason Malloy
I don’t 100% think that the body found is hers.. for one thing, she supposedly had bad arthritis in one knee, so she’s going to just off and go..hiking.. 600 miles away?? Then be found wearing clothes more suited for winter weather in North Carolina.. and she wasn’t a little woman. And the ME first said that he/she thought the body had been there for maybe up to 2 years.. it just doesn’t make any sense, none of it does.. ugh, so frustrating, I want to know what happened to you Judy!!!!
Bill Blaski
They confirmed her identity they dental records
TM
Hey cf, can you direct me to that podcast you heard about the Shuford murder?Thanks!
thinkingoutloud
need to know if judy really did go on the plane to philly. it’s weird he would make the comment they were to go together but then she wound up taking a later flight cause of her ID.
can we confirm he actually had a conference? can we confirm she was really the one that got on the plane? yes there are several eye witnesses but they could be mistakes too. could he have hired someone who looked like judy to walk around philly after her disappearance with her signature red backpack? It seems odd they were the last ones to see each other and no other clues. i don’t think judy ever really made it to philly. maybe when she was grabbing her ID, she was killed while her husband was in philly. and however killed her moved her body to north carolina.
too many missing clues from this story and all we have to go off it is her husband’s story.
thinkingoutloud
i still think Judy was already dead and never even traveled with her husband. did they confirm with the flight that she actually got on?
i think he made the story up about her not having to take a later flight. this way it shows he was waiting around in philly after his conference but she ‘never showed up’ cause she was already dead and didn’t even go.
i think the witnesses are lying or were confused about seeing judy. i don’t think she ever made it to philly. and if her close friend mention that their marriage was draining, maybe he had her killed professionally.
Jonathan
They verified that they went toPhilly and that her husband attended. Judy’s husband called the conference leaders and they called the mayor who then called the police to pressure them to investigate the case.
Lizzie
I just learned about this case. It reminds me of a 1967 movie introducing Det. Colombo. It’s called “Prescription: Murder”. A wealthy doctor kills his wife and his his younger actress girlfriend impersonates her on a plane flight to Mexico. They stage a fight and the girlfriend storms off the plane. The doctor comes back from Mexico to his dead wife. But he has a perfect alibi! I’d like to know more about the days leading up to this murder, and who saw or spoke to Judy Smith before the trip with her husband.
Anonymous
That was just a coincidence. There is a superstition saying that if you forget something and it delays travels, that it is bad luck. It is better not to continue traveling. The coincidence is not related to anything.
Jose
I was thinking her husband has something to do with it. His story completely exonerates him. But he was the last person who saw her. That they would take different planes because of a key? That bothers me.
Steph
They said her husband was morbidly obese and there’s no way he could’ve hiked to the remote location where they found her remains.
But I do agree, something about taking separate flights seems weird.
Bill Blaski
Truly one of the best unsolved mysteries. Any updates Unsolved?
Alex
Why would anyone want to buried an expensive sunglasses along with shirt that that still had money on the front pocket. And who put money on the front pocket anymore. Unless the suspect and victim were on the spot before sunset which explained the sunglasses. But why buried it when you can just throw it away.
charlie
I think her husband did it or got some one to kill her its funny they had a argument then she’s found murdered very suspicious why was nothing taken
Bill
Her husband was morbidly obese and law enforcement deemed it impossible for him to have killed her himself. Do research before making comments.
Anonymous
He reported her missing right away. It was kind of early. But because he was a half hour late he may have had extra worries. His alibi is airtight. A convention with video footage.
charlie
Just watched this case today about Judy smith I think her husband did it or hired some one to kill her
L
If this happened at the camp ground at the foot of hwy 151 before going up the parkway I have suspension that James Voth might be a person of interest. Back in 1997 I was there with my friend Crystal Shuford and her mother Catherine. Her mother kept saying there were 2 spirits hanging out there waiting to be found. It wasn’t too long after that when Crystal was raped and murdered by Catherine s boy friend James Voth. He had a history of violence towards females and I find it odd that a body was found there after Catherine stated she thinks two body’s were there. I was just a young teenager so I never tried contacting anyone.
cf
This is an interesting thought. I just recently heard about the Shuford murder on a podcast and have become interested in that case.
Kelly C
U ever call police now so you friend get justice peace
Anonymous
Now, I don’t think that any murders were connected to this specific one. But, Jeff and Judy were gone for a few hours, while she was supposedly sightseeing and he was at a conference. In that period of time, how much time was there? That’s all I need to know. At a steady speed rate in an average car, the distance from Philadelphia to Asheville is approximately 9 hours and 24 minutes. Jeff could’ve went to the conference, came back, killed her (during sightseeing or in the room), buried her body in Asheville, came back, and went home. He could’ve lied about the time they were going to meet. Are there records of the conference? Have they thorough checks of his car and room that they stayed in? When was he gone from the room? How much mileage does his car have? How much gas did he use during that trip? How much gas did he use on the way back from Philadelphia? If they have answered all of these questions, they can come up with various recollections of this story. If they haven’t, they need to speak with Jeff Smith once more and get these questions answered as soon as possible.
Mitchell
Except that she was spotted by several witnesses in the area. This kind of witness statement is often unreliable but in this case at least one witness provided specific details learned through their interaction. The scenario you posit is impossible if we concede the witnesses are credible.
Sensible
It does state in the story that they flew and he searched the area they were in by taxi, so how would there be gas mileage if he traveled by plane with his wife to Philadelphia?
Jonathan
They verified that he attended the conference long ago.
Charlie
Why hasn’t this been solved already, and did he take a polygraph, and did he gain monetarily from her death?
kafkette
he died.
& it really does not look likely that he killed her & moved her all the way up in the middle of nowhere, with nobody seeing anything.
—
he could’ve, i guess, i have at least one very large friend who’s in way better shape than am i. but he didn’t look like her: she looks like she could move mountains; he looked like a mountain of pastry. & his wife, ah, if she weighed 135, i weigh 72 pounds. put her closer to 160 [which is more honest, from photographic evidence], & nobody’s dragging her body up there after murdering the poor thing somewhere else.
someone killed her there. for some reason, the heart of the information has obviously never been released to the public. even the brightest among us could not make an educated guess based on everything we know.
—kafkette
kafkette
he’s dead. i dont think he profited, & my guess is he didn’t kill her. although, in truth, we dont know very much.
—
i’m only gonna type that, because i’ve already submitted the rest of my comment, & i’m not sure whether or not it dissolved into ether, & i didn’t want the same thing to show up twice.
Anonymous
But did they find her red backpack? And what was in the black backpack. Something isn’t right with this whole story. If she met up with someone else I don’t believe for a minute this person if they murdered her would leave his backpack with her body. Does not make sense. Unless she met up with someone else and she was followed by someone jealous and killed two of them, would explain the extra backpack. It does not say she was raped so I think that usually rules out a serial killer. This poor woman deserves justice.
No Name
If all they found was skeletal remains I don’t think they’d be able to tell if she was sexually assaulted or not.
Susan
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Jonathan
Her remains were skeletal, so they wouldn’t be able to tell if she was raped. Also a lot of serial killers don’t rape their victims either because they have problems getting aroused or because the act of killing us what arouses them the most.
niko
maybe her husband is?
sam
I don’t think the husband did it common sense it had to been a stranger she had met while sight seeing or someone she had known but I believe it was a serial killer
Jen
Why are we taking Jeff’s story as true? There’s a reason she wasn’t on the flight with him…she never came to Philadelphia. She was already dead and buried. Jeff concocts a story, then acts it out, through his trip to Philly, onto hiring PIs to look innocent. He had little fear in hiring them because he was directing them to Philly, not Asheville. Th investigators need to focus on finding enough evidence to charge him and stop meandering around looking for someone on the grassy knoll.
May
I am pretty sure they have flight records of her boarding to Philly.
Jon Prior
I agree. What worries me is that not one detail in Jeffrey’s account of events has ever been corroborated.
Jonathan
Jeff’s story was confirmed by the cops as they verified that Judy had the Philly plane ticket and he had been seen at the conference. Jeff was the one who uses his connections to pressure the police to investigate. He called the conference organizers and they called the mayor who called the commissioner and he increases the police resources involved.
Anonymous
First She was going back packing by herself, with out her husband, and second I see him packing her red back pack, and I see him take her to the public place, after he knifed her, at home, need to check with a dog, in front of and around where the car is parked, for blood, as I also, see him using a garden hose, to thin out the blood. Supernaturally.
Reality
Whack job
Caitie
There’s something bizarre about this case, I agree that it’s weird that Judy would leave her ID behind knowing she and her husband would be flying. But did anyone at the hotel they were staying at see Judy talking to anyone? Did they even see her leave the hotel at all? Why did she go to North Carolina, did she know someone there? Too many unanswered questions.
May
I am interested in that as well. Can they confirm that her husband was at the conference the whole time? Did he come back and meet her lunch? Did they see her check out the hotel and not come back? So many unanswered questions! lol
Nadine
What ever became of the information offered from the Psyche investigators? They mentioned it possibly being a local wandering in the woods. Also, he wore a signet with the letter “P” on it.
Since this happened in PA why haven’t you contacted the Vidocq Society located in PA?
Susan Rankin
Terry Alvin Hyatt is on death row in Asheville NCM298R m from his arrest in 1999. He murdered and raped three women. This probably has nothing to do with this unsolved case but had to put it out there. Hyatt use to be the boyfriend of my sister in law in the early nineties.
Anonymousy
Susan, I know you left this comment long ago, but do you know what Terry was doing for work around 1997 or what vehicle he may have driven around that time?
Caitie
It seems strange to me that Judy would leave her driver’s license at home when she knew that she and her husband would be flying. So it seems like she was planning to run away. But that doesn’t seem right because it sounds like she and her daughter were very close. I feel like the whole story isn’t being told in the story
Anonymous
Professional hit. Husband was a lawyer, probably knew the law, knew how to get things done. Marriage tenuous.
Anon
Way too assumptive. Number one, divorce is a prevalent thing in today’s society. A divorce would cost less than a professional hit man. And number 2, a professional hit man would not leave behind any traces, including that of a backpack and a pair of sunglasses.
Angie
There is another unsolved murder in the Asheville area at the same yr time frame could they be connected and is this murderer someone working for city and knows these women were alone The other victim was found with stab wounds too.