An Orlando man has been arrested in the disappearance of his ex-fiancée, who vanished in 2011 hours after the pair appeared in a pretaped episode of “The People’s Court,” police said.
asserted
police → arrest → Court
Dale Smith Jr., 55, was arrested Wednesday at his business on a charge of second-degree murder, police said.
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police → arrest → murder
Michelle Parker’s body has not been found, but police said “all evidence leads to Dale Smith Jr. as the person responsible for Michelle’s murder.”
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evidence → find → murder
Smith was booked into jail in Orange County.
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Smith → book → County
It’s not immediately clear whether he has retained an attorney.
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he → ’ → attorney
The arrest comes nearly 15 years after Parker, a mother of three, disappeared.
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Parker → come → three
She was last seen on Nov. 17, 2011, dropping off her twins with their father, Smith.
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She → see → father
He was the last person to see her, Orlando Police Chief Eric D. Smith said Wednesday.
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Smith → see → her
The afternoon she went missing, Parker and Dale Smith appeared on a prerecorded episode of “The People’s Court.”
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Parker → go → Court
On the episode, they settled a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring.
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they → settle → ring
Smith “gets pretty malicious and vindictive,” Parker said in court.
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Parker → get → court
“He said that he wanted his ring, so I took it off, and I threw it at him.”
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I → say → him
The day after Parker’s disappearance, her car was recovered on the west side of Orlando, with the decal for her tanning business scraped off its window.
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decal → recover → window
Her cellphone was recovered from a lake south of Orlando, police said.
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police → recover → Orlando
Smith was considered a prime suspect at the time, but he was not charged until now.
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he → consider → time
In the past, he denied involvement in her disappearance.
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he → deny → disappearance
Police said Smith’s arrest comes after years of investigative work and a renewed effort over the past year.
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arrest → say → year
They pointed to re-examining evidence and using advances in digital forensics to “uncover and analyze additional evidence that moved this case forward.”
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that → point → case
Police shared video of Smith being escorted out of a building in handcuffs and placed into a police vehicle.
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Smith → share → vehicle
Smith, the police chief, said investigators re-examined the suspect’s testimony and conflicting statements over the years, but declined to release details to “protect the integrity of this case.”
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investigators → say → case
“The suspect was interviewed more than once, and since then has taken part in depositions related to this case.
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suspect → interview → case
And very specific questions were asked of him numerous times over the years where he gave different answers to those same questions,” Detective Phillip McMican said at a news conference Wednesday.
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McMican → ask → conference
McMican said advancements in technology helped reveal new information from years-old evidence relating to cars, electronic devices, phones and computers.
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advancements → say → cars
“We were able to better interpret that evidence today than what we were able to do back in 2011,” he said.
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he → interpret → 2011
Digital forensics revealed more detailed location data and communications between devices used then, he said.
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he → reveal → devices
New evidence was also found in the last year, McMican said.
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McMican → find → year
Asked whether the suspect was surprised when police arrived, the detective said, “Yes.”
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detective → ask → ?
Parker’s mother, Yvonne Stewart, was told in person about Dale Smith’s arrest.
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mother → tell → arrest
“It’s like the happiest day because she deserves this,” Stewart told NBC affiliate WESH of Orlando.
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Stewart → ’ → Orlando
She said she held on to hope throughout the years.
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she → say → years
“I just knew that one day everything dark would come into the light,” she said.
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she → know → light
“And it’s been hard, let me tell you.
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me → let → you
It’s not easy to lose a child this way.
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It → ’ → child
And her children didn’t deserve to lose a mother this way.”
Parker’s eldest child is now 26 and her twins are 18, WESH reported.
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WESH → deserve → mother
State Attorney Monique H. Worrell, who represents the Ninth Judicial Circuit, said the charge could be upgraded to first-degree murder if evidence supports it.
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evidence → represent → it
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