WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:10.240 For nine days in the fall of nineteen ninety four, 2 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:13.480 the country watched a mother beg for the safe return 3 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:16.199 of her missing sons, who she said had been taken 4 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:21.320 in a violent carjacking. Police searched, the media amplified every word, 5 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:25.399 and a small South Carolina town held its breath. But 6 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:29.719 behind the scenes, investigators were already noticing cracks in the story. 7 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.560 Things didn't seem to add up, and soon they would 8 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.960 uncover one of the most heart wrenching true crime cases 9 00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:42.000 the country had ever seen. This is the story of 10 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:42.920 Suzanne Smith. 11 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:48.320 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 12 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:50.320 and Grim, a true crime podcast. 13 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:58.039 The following podcast and material intended for a mature audience 14 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:20.319 listener discretion. I think people liked the last episode. 15 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:21.200 They did. 16 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:23.159 They did even though it was a two parter and 17 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:25.439 people hate, you know, having to listen to two parts. 18 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.079 It went over really well. 19 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:29.319 I don't think it's that they hate listening to two parts. 20 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:31.560 So you have like the little weight in the that's true. 21 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:34.079 That's true. Okay, I should I should clarify that it's 22 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:36.439 the weight in between. Yeah, people don't like but. 23 00:01:36.519 --> 00:01:38.599 No, well, it was such a doozy of a case, right. 24 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:42.920 I think people were like, holy frigue this, but. 25 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:45.719 Even still like ok one person here on our Spotify 26 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:48.959 comments they wrote, this was just so mind blowingly well told, 27 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:53.799 the best episode to date. Thank you. That was a 28 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:57.400 really nice comment. Thank you appreciate that. We actually had 29 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:00.000 quite a few really good comments on it. And another 30 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:02.359 one here that says, I have heard another podcast cover 31 00:02:02.439 --> 00:02:04.560 this story, but they did not do it justice like 32 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:07.120 you did. Good call to divide it into two parts, 33 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:10.400 even though I had to wait. Awesome job. Thank you 34 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.039 very much. Like okay, feeling the fact that people think 35 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.960 I did did it justice that that made me feel 36 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:16.400 pretty good. 37 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:18.599 Well, yeah, that's the goal. You did a good job. Well, 38 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:22.000 thank you a real good job. You've done good? You done? 39 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:23.840 How what's the saying you done did good? 40 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.039 Yeah? You done did good, Ben, It's not even really 41 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:27.479 just saying. 42 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.439 It's just dis section of the English language, you know, 43 00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:33.879 breaking it down to basics. Yeah, you're done, did do good, 44 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:35.960 good job. 45 00:02:36.039 --> 00:02:37.159 Pat yourself on the back. 46 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:41.360 I will, but only if some people over on Patreon 47 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.479 also pat themselves on the back for being so supportive 48 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:48.719 and amazing. For example, we have sun Arts Megan Jared's 49 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:53.800 Katie Caitlyn Post, Meghan b Caitlin Hart Soul. Thank you 50 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:55.840 for telling me how to pronounce your name, by the way. 51 00:02:55.879 --> 00:03:00.759 Appreciate that, Wainona Togg and Christina Jordan, who all deserve 52 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:02.560 that pat in the back because they signed up over 53 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:05.639 on Patreon and are supporting us that way. But also 54 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:08.159 they're getting that cool behind the scenes, like the pre 55 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:11.000 show we just recorded and they're gonna be putting up 56 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:11.520 over there soon. 57 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.680 Would you ever pronounced that one name differently? If they haven't, 58 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:19.000 hadn't had reached out. 59 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:20.840 I probably would have pronounced it. How I'm sure there 60 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:23.599 are people They're used to people mispronouncing it. I would 61 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:27.759 have said heart Soul, heartseller, heart Soul, Okay, but it's 62 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:28.400 heart soul. 63 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:31.520 Huh. Yeah. Well, there there you go. That was helpful. 64 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.560 It was helpful. Appreciate it. But we have an interesting 65 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:37.159 case today. 66 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.439 Yeah, yeah, Ben, Yeah. 67 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:42.520 Well, I gave you a bit of an elevator pitch 68 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:48.319 a little bit, and this one it's trigger warning. It 69 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:52.680 involves the death of two young boys, the murder of 70 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.000 two young boys, so trigger warning for that. But there 71 00:03:57.080 --> 00:03:59.840 is another interesting aspect to this case. I'm not going 72 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:03.639 to divulge just yet. It is something that you don't 73 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:06.960 typically see in true crime. I mean, it happens, it's 74 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:10.680 just a rarity. And yeah, I think with that we 75 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:12.000 should just get right into the story. 76 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:14.560 Okay, I feel like my jaw is going to just 77 00:04:14.639 --> 00:04:16.360 be like on the ground this whole episode. 78 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:19.879 Probably right, probably, But don't worry with this little rarity 79 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.800 of true crime. I do divulge what it is here 80 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:25.240 pretty quickly so you won't be on the edge of 81 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:27.519 your seat too long or with me, and we'll get 82 00:04:27.560 --> 00:04:30.040 into the details and trust me, it's a story worth telling. 83 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.000 For nine days, the country believed two little boys were 84 00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:38.680 somewhere out there, still alive. Their names were Michael and Alexander. 85 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.160 Now Michael was three years old and Alexander was just 86 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:46.480 fourteen months old. Their faces filled television screens across America. 87 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:49.439 They were taped in storefront windows and pinned to bulletin 88 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:52.480 boards while their mother stood before microphones with their voice 89 00:04:52.519 --> 00:04:55.800 breaking as she begged for their safe return. She said 90 00:04:55.800 --> 00:04:59.319 a stranger had taken them. According to her, it happened 91 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:01.759 late at night. She was stopped at a red light 92 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:04.560 when a man approached her car, opened the door and 93 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.959 forced his way inside. He had a gun, she said, 94 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:11.120 and he ordered her to drive, and she claimed he 95 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:14.319 made her travel for miles before telling her to finally 96 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.680 pull over near a rural lake. Then, she said, he 97 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:20.399 pushed her out of the car and drove away with 98 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.279 her sons still strapped into their car seats in the back. 99 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:26.879 She told police she could still hear them crying, in fact, 100 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:29.079 as the vehicle was driving off, with her standing there 101 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:33.399 on the side of the road. Now the story it spreadfast, 102 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:37.279 a carjacking involving two young children. While it felt like 103 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:42.160 every parent's worst fears were suddenly made real, law enforcement 104 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:45.720 launched a massive search almost immediately looking for these boys. 105 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.000 Roadblocks were set up, flyers were printed by the thousands, 106 00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:52.600 and volunteers combed through wooded areas and rural roads just 107 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:56.639 in case. In fact, helicopters scanned highways, and divers even 108 00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:00.439 checked bodies of water. The FBI joined the invent mistigation 109 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:04.040 as tips poured in from across the country. At night, 110 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.639 porch lights were left on in Union County was a 111 00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:11.279 quiet gesture of hope that Michael and Alexander might somehow 112 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.399 find their way home. And as always, there was their 113 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:19.040 mother Susan Smith. She became the face of the search. 114 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:22.680 She appeared on national news programs with her hands clasped, 115 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:26.279 eyes downcast, as she spoke directly to the man she 116 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:30.040 said had taken her children. She told him she forgave him. 117 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:32.560 She said that she was just asking him to leave 118 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.319 the boy somewhere safe. The police wanted to believe her, 119 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:40.240 but right from the start something felt off, and even 120 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:43.000 as questions began to surface, behind the scenes, the public 121 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:46.720 image remained intact. This was a grieving mother living every 122 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.720 parent's worst nightmare. But while cameras focused on highways and 123 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:54.959 wooded back roads, investigators were quietly analyzing this story from 124 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.759 a different angle. Because details didn't quite line up, timelines 125 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.000 slowly shifted, and the story, when examined closely, didn't behave 126 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:08.920 the way real crimes usually do. Something they couldn't put 127 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:12.839 their finger on. It just wasn't right. And yet still, 128 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.360 for nine long days, the search continued because no one 129 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:18.800 wanted to accept the possibility that the truth was far 130 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:24.879 closer and far darker. You see, the truth was, while 131 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:29.959 the nation watched and waited, Michael and Alexander were not missing, 132 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.360 and the person who knew where they were, and what 133 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:37.240 happened stood at the very center of the story, asking 134 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:41.920 the world to help her bring them home. On the 135 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:46.120 evening of October twenty fifth, nineteen ninety four, Suzanne Smith 136 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.360 picked up her two sons from daycare in Union County, 137 00:07:49.399 --> 00:07:53.399 South Carolina. Michael Daniel Smith was three years old, energetic 138 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.959 and very talkative, while his younger brother, Alexander Tyler Smith 139 00:07:57.079 --> 00:07:59.720 was just fourteen months old and still firmly in the 140 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.439 roots teens of infancy. Both boys were secured in their 141 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:06.279 car seats in the back of Susan's Burgundy nineteen ninety 142 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:10.279 Mazda Protege. Now what Susan did after leaving the daycare 143 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:14.680 would not become fully clear until days later, but instead 144 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:18.319 of driving directly home, she spent several hours driving around 145 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.319 Union County. Investigators would later determine that she had left 146 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:26.120 work early that afternoon and appeared emotionally distressed throughout the 147 00:08:26.199 --> 00:08:29.360 day At the time, though no one knew where she 148 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.439 was going or why she remained on the road for 149 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.960 so long. As night fell, Susan turned off the main 150 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:40.759 roads and drove towards a rural area just outside of town. There, 151 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.759 surrounded by darkness and farmland sat John D. Long Lake, 152 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.480 a quiet man made lake with a concrete boat ramp 153 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:49.480 sloping into the water. 154 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:50.919 There were no. 155 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:54.320 Nearby businesses, no street lights, and very little traffic at 156 00:08:54.360 --> 00:08:58.320 that hour. It was some time after eight pm when 157 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:01.440 she pulled her car up to that ramphen stopped. Michael 158 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.639 and Alex were still strapped into their seats behind her, and, 159 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:08.440 according to Suzanne's later confession, she sat in the driver's 160 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:12.000 seat for several minutes. Overwhelmed and unsure of what to 161 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.080 do with herself, she claimed, she placed the car in 162 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.600 neutral and allowed it to roll forward slightly, and then 163 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:21.879 stopped it by pulling the e brake. She repeated this 164 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.600 action more than once, staring at the water and hesitating 165 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:30.360 each time before letting the car move any further. Eventually, 166 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:35.480 Suzanne stepped out of the vehicle. She stood beside the car, 167 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:40.320 distraught and indecisive, before reaching back inside one final time. 168 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:44.320 At that moment, she released the car's e brake, and 169 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:46.960 the Masda began to roll forward on its own, descending 170 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:51.919 down the ramp and rolling into the murky waters. Suzanne 171 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:54.600 did not re enter the car. She did not attempt 172 00:09:54.600 --> 00:09:58.200 to remove her children. Instead, she watched as the vehicle 173 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:02.440 moved into the water slowly and disappeared beneath the surface 174 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:07.240 with both of them still inside. Little Michael and Alex 175 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:10.840 remain strapped into the car seats as the car sank 176 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:11.960 below the surface. 177 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:21.480 I just that is the worst, the absolute worst. I 178 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:24.919 just can't comprehend how that can happen. 179 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:28.720 This is the situation where we have something that you 180 00:10:28.759 --> 00:10:32.639 don't typically see in true crime. Is a female killer. Yeah, 181 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:36.759 they are, you know, generally speaking, pretty rare. They're out there, 182 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:39.240 for sure. We've covered many cases, but it's not your 183 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:44.600 typical story. And beyond that, she killed her own children. 184 00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:49.559 Her own kids. Holy flying shit. I just can't even 185 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:54.759 that is just you can't even remotely put yourself in 186 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:57.639 that situation at all. I can't fathom that a mom 187 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:00.320 could do that. Right there, two kids, they would you 188 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:02.440 think they have probably been crying or something. 189 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.399 Or oh they would have. They would have been crying 190 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:08.320 because imagine the water filling up into that car. The 191 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:10.679 terror of those two children would be going through and 192 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:14.519 she's standing there, she would hear that. Yeah, she would 193 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:17.960 probably even see some flailing in the back of the car. 194 00:11:18.039 --> 00:11:19.759 I mean, they're strapped in but there could have been 195 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.720 arms going up and trying, who knows, and it would 196 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:27.600 have been the worst thing in the world to have 197 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:30.480 to witness. But she stood there and she did. 198 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:35.399 It just got wrenching. Yes, those poor poor little angel babies. Yeah. 199 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.519 Now, after the vehicle was no longer visible, Susan turned 200 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.000 away from the lake and she walked up the boat ramp, 201 00:11:42.279 --> 00:11:45.440 crossed the nearby road, and ran approximately one hundred yards 202 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.159 to the nearest house, which had its porch light on. 203 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:50.840 She then pounded on the door in a state of 204 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:54.600 apparent panic. When the homeowners answered the door, Susanne told 205 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:57.200 them her car had just been stolen and that her 206 00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.679 two young children were still inside, which of course was 207 00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:04.399 a lie. So we know the reality of what happened. 208 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:07.039 But as this story unfolded for the next few days, 209 00:12:07.759 --> 00:12:10.159 while the reality was a little bit different, or at 210 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:11.600 least painted differently. 211 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.679 No one knew exactly yeah, for quite a while. 212 00:12:14.519 --> 00:12:16.519 So with her pounding on the door and claiming this, 213 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.399 the homeowner quickly called nine one one and police officers 214 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:23.639 arrived within minutes. Suzanne was visibly shaken, crying and struggling 215 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.840 to explain what had happened. She told deputies that earlier, 216 00:12:26.919 --> 00:12:28.840 she'd been stopped at a red light when a man 217 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.080 approached her car, forced his way inside at gunpoint, and 218 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:36.240 ordered her to drive now. According to her, the encounter 219 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:40.360 happened at an intersection on Monarch Mills Road, a stretch 220 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:44.159 of highway just outside of Union County. She claimed the man, 221 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:47.519 a black male, jumped into the driver's side of the 222 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:50.799 car while she was stopped at the light. The gun 223 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.559 was pressed against her side. He allegedly told her to 224 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.399 drive and warned her not to say anything or he 225 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:02.000 would kill her. So Susan and she drove for some 226 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:06.000 time under his direction in the backseat. Meanwhile, Michael and 227 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:09.480 Alex sat there crying and frightened over the situation. She 228 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:12.000 told officers. She tried to reassure them, speaking to them 229 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.200 while the man sat behind beside her with a gun, 230 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:16.799 and eventually, she claimed, the man ordered her to stop 231 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:19.519 on a rural road near John D. Long Lake and 232 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:23.440 get out of the car. There, she claimed she begged 233 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:26.279 to get her kids out of this car seat with her, 234 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:30.039 which we clearly know was not the case. 235 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.159 I just have to say this Lione itself is just terrible, 236 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.559 just like going about wasting everyone's time, really and like 237 00:13:36.759 --> 00:13:40.799 just this panic when she actually knows what the hell happened. Yeah, 238 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:41.759 that's terrible. 239 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:47.440 Yeah again monster right, Yeah, we say that in almost 240 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:50.080 every episode because that sums up these people to the 241 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.000 fullest extent. And that is what she is, an absolute monster. 242 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.759 Well, because all these people are listening to her and 243 00:13:56.919 --> 00:14:00.600 probably sensing her like fear or whatever, and then panicking 244 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:03.120 and oh my gosh, we got to figure this out. 245 00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:06.519 And then really she just knows what the hell happened. 246 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:07.960 It's unreal. 247 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.039 Yeah, And they're probably able to put theirselves in that situation. 248 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:14.120 You know what happens if it were my kids stolen, Yeah, 249 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:17.080 panic instilled in them. But here she is, she's just 250 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:19.480 basically like, oh no, Like I'm begging to get my 251 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:21.000 kids out of the back of the car because I 252 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:23.320 knew he was about to take the car, and then 253 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:26.879 so from there he as so. She claims he pushed 254 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:28.679 her out of the car and told her he wasn't 255 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:30.519 going to hurt the children and then drove off with 256 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:32.559 them still alive and strapped in the car seat. That 257 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:36.240 was her version of events, when in reality it's very different. 258 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.960 I wonder if she had that already made up before 259 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:42.519 she did what she did. I think so, yeah, I. 260 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:46.240 Fully think so we can discuss that maybe at the 261 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.399 end of this episode. Yeah, a little more detail for sure. 262 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:49.320 Now. 263 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.159 After allegedly being forced out of the vehicle, Suzanne said 264 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.320 she ran to the nearest house for help and nine 265 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:58.399 one one was called. Now officers immediately broadcast a description 266 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.960 of the suspect and the vehicle. It was a blackmail 267 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:06.039 driving a Burgundy Mazda Protege with two small children inside. 268 00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:10.960 Within a short time, David Smith, the boy's father, arrived 269 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:14.559 at the scene. He found Suzanne distraught and visibly shaken. 270 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.919 Although the couple had divorced months earlier. David stood by 271 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:21.320 her side as she repeated her account to police. There 272 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:24.320 was no public indication at that point that, you know what, 273 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.480 they need to doubt her story. Now, police and investigators 274 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:32.799 they treated the case with the utmost urgency. Officers quickly 275 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:36.039 set up patrols across Union County and began cana sing 276 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.639 nearby Rhodes. Information was also relayed to surrounding jurisdictions, and 277 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:44.120 the assumption that guided the early response was simple but grim. 278 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.559 Two young children had been taken by an armed stranger 279 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:50.600 and every minute mattered in fact, as we know best, 280 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:53.120 for the first forty eight hours of the most crucial 281 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:57.759 in these situations. That same night, Suzanne gave additional statements 282 00:15:57.799 --> 00:16:02.600 to investigators, repeating the same basic sequence of events. She 283 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:05.399 described the gun, the fear she felt, and the moment 284 00:16:05.480 --> 00:16:08.799 she was forced out of the car. During this officers 285 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:11.279 noted that she did not appear physically injured and showed 286 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:13.480 no sign of a struggle, but at the time this 287 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:16.600 did not immediately raise any alarms or red flags. Trauma 288 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:20.600 victims often behave unpredictably, and the priority remained, you know, 289 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:24.399 finding her boys, Michael and Alex. By the end of 290 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.279 the night, police had no confirmed sightings of that masta, 291 00:16:27.879 --> 00:16:30.279 no witnesses who had seen the carjacking at the intersection 292 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:33.600 that Susan described, and no physical evidence to support or 293 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:38.559 contradict her account. Still, nothing directly disproved her story either. 294 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:43.679 By morning of October twenty sixth, nineteen ninety four, the 295 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.879 case had moved far beyond a local emergency and into 296 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.360 a national story. Susanne Smith and David Smith appeared together 297 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:56.240 repeatedly standing shoulder to shoulder in front of cameras. Susan 298 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:59.080 pleaded directly to the man that she said and claimed 299 00:16:59.360 --> 00:17:02.080 took her children and asking that they'd be returned safely, 300 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:07.599 while lying right through her teeth. David meanwhile echoed her words. 301 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.000 But the difference in him while he was being sincere. 302 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:15.160 Lying to a stranger, you know, you can kind of 303 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:17.759 understand maybe a bit more, but lying to these boys' 304 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:23.319 dad too, that that is just cruelty. Yet it's like 305 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:24.599 absolute finest. 306 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:30.079 Well, everything she does is completely self involved. It's all 307 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:33.519 for her own self, her own benefit. And as this 308 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:35.440 story goes on, you'll kind of see what I'm talking 309 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.480 about because there's more detail to go to it with that. 310 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:41.440 But yeah, she's standing shoulder to shoulder with these boys dad, Yeah, 311 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.839 and he thinks they're missing when literally he's standing right 312 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:50.839 next arm around holding her hand with the fucking killer. 313 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:54.599 And in his mind he would never he could probably 314 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:56.720 never imagine that she would do something. 315 00:17:56.519 --> 00:18:00.799 Like that, right exactly now, Inside Union came. The response 316 00:18:00.920 --> 00:18:05.400 was overwhelming. Volunteers gathered to help search churches, they opened 317 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:08.440 their doors for prayer vigils. Residents left porch lights on 318 00:18:08.920 --> 00:18:11.279 all through the night, a symbolic gesture of hope that 319 00:18:11.319 --> 00:18:14.759 the boys would be brought home soon safe. The case 320 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:17.599 struck a very big nerve across the country. With two 321 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:20.079 very young children taken from their mother by a stranger, 322 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:23.359 there was no clear trail. Everyone else was just what 323 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.319 if it was me? How sad is this? 324 00:18:25.559 --> 00:18:25.680 You know? 325 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:30.160 These poor children. All the while, law enforcement kept expanding 326 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:33.359 the scope of their search. Deputies tray Susan's reported route 327 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:36.440 from the alleged carjacking site, looking for anyone who might 328 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:40.359 have seen the Mazda. Investigators reviewed traffic patterns, check nearby 329 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.720 businesses for surveillance footage, and followed up on every single 330 00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:46.119 tip that came in, and many were vague, some were 331 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:49.240 clearly wrong, but still they had to check them, but 332 00:18:49.480 --> 00:18:53.039 none led to the children. The FBI joined the investigation 333 00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.559 soon too, bringing additional manpower and resources, and all those 334 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.039 tips began pouring in, not just in the local area, 335 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:02.319 but also from across the country, and sightings of the 336 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:05.680 mass that were reported in neighboring states and each had 337 00:19:05.720 --> 00:19:10.960 to be checked, but again still nothing. At the same time, though, 338 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.440 investigators were quietly beginning to scrutinize Susan's account more closely, 339 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.799 while the public narrative focused on an armed carjacker detectives 340 00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:22.599 were tasked with testing whether her story could actually be true. 341 00:19:23.799 --> 00:19:27.599 So to start, they returned to Monarch Mills Road, the 342 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:31.359 very intersection where Susan said that her car had been 343 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:34.279 stopped at that red light when the carjacker had approached her. 344 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:38.839 The area was dark, it was rural and lightly traveled 345 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.920 at night. No one had reported seeing a struggle, a 346 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:46.079 stop vehicle, or anything. But what they discovered here actually 347 00:19:46.279 --> 00:19:50.279 raised some questions. See, the traffic light at the intersection 348 00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:54.319 was not controlled by a fixed timer who was triggered 349 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:58.640 by censors in the pavement, So, in other words, the 350 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:01.799 light would only turn read for drivers on Monarch Mill 351 00:20:02.039 --> 00:20:06.920 Road if another vehicle approached from the other side. Oh 352 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:11.440 but that presents a problem because Suzanne's had been very 353 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.880 clear in her statements that she had not seen any 354 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:16.680 other cars at the intersection that night. She was alone there, 355 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:19.440 So if that were true, the light would not have 356 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:22.000 turned red and she would never have had to stop 357 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:22.920 at the red light at all. 358 00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:26.480 Okay, I love shit like that, things that you would 359 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:29.440 just never think about, right, Yeah, you probably think you 360 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.359 have this this amazing plan, and then it's like one 361 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:35.599 tiny detail that the police are just. 362 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:38.920 Like, wait a second, Yeah, that can't be true. 363 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:39.480 Yeah. 364 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:43.480 So basically this suggested that the event Suzanne described may 365 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:46.319 not have happened at the location she claimed, or, as 366 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:50.039 we already know, didn't happen at all. Now, investigators also 367 00:20:50.119 --> 00:20:53.000 examined the physical scene where Suzanne claims she was forced 368 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.480 from the car. They couldn't find any tire marks that were, 369 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:58.559 you know, spin out from a vehicle, and no obvious 370 00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:01.799 disturbed gravel from her being pushed out or or running 371 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:03.839 after a car or nothing like that. No signs of 372 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:07.720 a struggle or anything. Also, Suzanne herself showed no visible 373 00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:11.440 signs of injury despite being described well being pushed from 374 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.279 a car. Now, it is possible to come out of 375 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:18.400 that unscathe, but it's still just another question mark in 376 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:19.160 the whole. 377 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:22.880 Line of events, something that's not making one hundred percent 378 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:24.000 sense exactly. 379 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:26.720 So it raised a lot of suspicion, and so detectives 380 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.480 began to reinterview Suzanne, asking her to walk through her 381 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:33.799 story again, step by step. Now in each retelling, it 382 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:38.160 contained slight changes, slight variations the length of time she 383 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:40.559 claimed to be forced to drive, It shifted the direction 384 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:45.240 she was facing at the intersection became unclear, and as 385 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.400 I believe it was Abraham Lincoln, a famous quote from him. 386 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:51.480 No man, no man has a good enough memory to 387 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:55.640 be a successful liar. Seems the same thing as applying here. 388 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.240 She's trying to lie, but she doesn't have a good 389 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:00.559 enough memory to remember how she told lie to be 390 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:02.079 accurate in the long run. 391 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:05.880 Well, especially with something so large, such a large lie 392 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:06.680 like this one. 393 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:10.960 Exactly, And there's details that she is talking about, and 394 00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:15.279 it seems like she's almost over complicating some of the 395 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:19.960 details too, to muddle it intentionally, like she's offering confusing 396 00:22:20.119 --> 00:22:24.240 statements on purpose. Now at the same time, officers notice 397 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.759 changes in her demeanor that did not match her public appearances. 398 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.400 In front of cameras, she cried and pleaded, and there's 399 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:33.799 a lot of questions about whether there was actual tears 400 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:35.839 coming out of her eyes or not, or it was 401 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:41.240