Florida man faces murder charge in ex-fiancée’s 2011 disappearance

Orlando police have arrested Dale Smith Jr. on a murder charge nearly 15 years after his ex-fiancée, Michelle Parker, vanished following a dispute between the two that aired on a television court show. Parker has never been found.

Smith, 55, was arrested Wednesday at his business and booked into the Orange County jail on one count of second-degree murder, according to NBC News. Police said in a statement that although Parker’s body has not been located, “all evidence leads to Dale Smith Jr. as the person responsible for Michelle’s murder.” It was not immediately clear whether Smith had retained an attorney, NBC reported. He has previously denied involvement in Parker’s disappearance.

Parker, then 33 and a mother of three, disappeared on Nov. 17, 2011. That afternoon, a prerecorded episode of “The People’s Court” aired featuring Parker and Smith in a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring. On the show, Parker described Smith as “pretty malicious and vindictive.” She said he demanded the ring back, “so I took it off, and I threw it at him.”

Parker was last seen dropping off the twins she shared with Smith at his home. Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith said Dale Smith was the last known person to see or hear from her that day. According to CBS News affiliate WKMG-TV, security video captured Parker dropping off the children. Her SUV was found abandoned the next day in an Orlando parking lot. NBC News reported that a decal advertising her tanning business had been scraped off a window. Her cellphone was later recovered from a lake.

Dale Smith had been considered a suspect since shortly after Parker disappeared, but investigators did not charge him until Wednesday. Police said they intensified the investigation over the past year, reviewing evidence and using newer digital forensic techniques to analyze material collected earlier in the case.

“We reexamined testimony and conflicting statements made by the suspect and used advanced digital forensics to uncover and analyze additional evidence,” the police chief told reporters. Detective Phillip McMican said investigators could now better interpret evidence involving vehicles, phones, computers and other electronic devices than they could in 2011. NBC News reported that the analysis yielded more detailed location data and information about communications between devices.

McMican said investigators also found new evidence in the past year. He said Smith had been interviewed multiple times and had participated in depositions. “Very specific questions were asked of him numerous times over the years, where he gave different answers to those same questions,” McMican said. Police did not identify the specific evidence that led to the arrest, saying they wanted to protect the case.

Parker’s mother, Yvonne Stewart, told NBC affiliate WESH that police informed her of the arrest in person. “It’s like the happiest day because she deserves this,” Stewart said. “I just knew that one day everything dark would come into the light.”

State Attorney Monique H. Worrell said the charge could be raised to first-degree murder if the evidence supports it.