so what did you guys think about this one?

I think something happened to her in Philly. I know mikem7715 mentioned recently in another thread that Philly is a bad area, and I think it's more likely that she met foul play in Philly as opposed to the North Carolina city (name escapes me right now.) Given that she was out alone the day she disappeared, I think somebody probably picked up on the fact that she was a tourist that was trustworthy to pretty much everybody and seized on it.

the only thing that I can think of that wouldn't tie into this theory is the eyewitness accounts in North Carolina, but then again you know how reliable those can be a lot of the time.

good choices for vol 11 CD, gives us a whole lot more to talk about.:)

good choices for vol 11 CD, gives us a whole lot more to talk about.:)

Thanks! :)

I'm glad you made a thread about this case...probably my most favorite newer one. It would seem more logical on paper that something happened to her in Philadelphia but how did she end all the way in NC? Plus I thought that lady in Tennessee seemed very credible who said Judy came into her store. She said the person looked like Judy, said her name was Judy and that her husband was an attorney and they had been in Philadelphia. The thing is none of the choices in this case make much sense which is what makes it so baffling. I think there's a chance that maybe she was sightseeing and for whatever reason decided to continue south and possibly got a ride from someone who ended up killing her. Nothing adds up on this one. :confused:

good points there. they tried to play up the disappear on her own accord angle, but usually in those circumstances, people lie about their background whereas here Judy correctly admitted she had a husband that was in Philly.

Yep, bizarre one indeed.

"Judy Smith is a-LIVE, and she lives in Memphis... Judy Smith is a-LIVE, and she lives in Memphis..."

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/lachen/laughing-smiley-007.gif

"Judy Smith is a-LIVE, and she lives in Memphis... Judy Smith is a-LIVE, and she lives in Memphis..."

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/lachen/laughing-smiley-007.gif
:lol: :lol:

I've never seen this one! CD, I would love to see a dvd put together with some newer ones, there are a lot I haven't seen!

I do believe that Judy Smith was murdered in North Carolina. Though I am not much for eyewitnesses, the one interviewed for the segment seemed credible enough. More importantly, it's hard to imagine someone travelling 700 miles with a dead body.

This still, of course, leaves the possibility she was kidnapped from Philadelphia. Though Philadelphia has its not-so-hot spots, to be sure, the area where people come for conventions and to sight-see (Center City) is a very low violent crime rate area, especially during the day. Since she apparently disappeared sometime between 9 and 5, it's hard for me to imagine she was kidnapped off of Chestnut Street or someplace similar, if only because there would have been a number of witnesses (I'm from Philly, so I know it pretty well).

I feel like at one point somebody on this board questioned whether Judy Smith was ever in Philadelphia at all (or am I thinking of another case?). Evidently, flight records from the period when Judy disappeared aren't so hot, because otherwise they would have been able to identify what if any flight she got on to go to North Carolina and to leave Boston, neither of which they mentioned in the segment. We only have her husband's word, as it stands, that she ever arrived in Philadelphia.

Still, this is one of the few where I don't suspect the husband primarily, because it's hard to see how he would have done it. If he had hired someone to do it, maybe, but... I don't know.

If she was indeed seen alive in North Carolina alone and happy shortly before her disappearance, a damn good question would be "what on earth was she doing there?" If she was there to visit a lover, he would presumably be from the town where she stayed. If not, what's so special about nowhere, North Carolina?

If she was indeed seen alive in North Carolina alone and happy shortly before her disappearance, a damn good question would be "what on earth was she doing there?"

That is a damn good question, and it was a "what the..." moment when I saw it. She seemed to be on good terms with her husband just hours before, and didn't express any problems of any kind to the antique store clerk in NC, so it doesn't appear that she left Philly in a huff.

Another point supporting the notion she made it to North Carolina alive: if her killer only dumped her body at the site where her remains were found, rather than actually killing her there, why were items that didn't belong to her found with her remains? Why would the killer leave sunglasses and a backpack that were his with her body --- items that could only serve to give the police a lead to his identity? The answer to me is that she was killed after a struggle right where she was found. The backpack and the sunglasses came off the killer in the struggle.

That scenario itself suggests something more like a lover's spat than a random act of sexualized violence.

That scenario itself suggests something more like a lover's spat than a random act of sexualized violence.

maybe, but I don't know. That seems like an awfully long distance to travel to have an affair. Given the long distance, they couldn't have had too many excursions together. I'm curious to know if she knew anybody in the area or had ever been there before. The segment hinted that she would have had no reason to be there, but who knows, they didn't really specify.

i feel like there's more to this than going to NC for just a "lover"

I was reading the synopsis of this case on the UM website. It mentioned that people in the area remembered a "Judy from Boston" and even said she stayed in a nearby hotel April 10-12. It certainly seems like she wanted to be there - I had initially thought maybe she got a ride and the person killed her and transported her body there but who knows. It just boggles the mind why in the world she would travel to NC without telling anyone. By the eyewitness accounts she didn't seem disoriented and knew her name and where she was from.

I listened to RobinW's podcast about this case (The Trail Went Cold). Always been one of the most perplexing.

What is most intriguing about this case has always been: what was she doing there? There is no apparent record of her travel there, and no reason has ever been discovered as to why she would have been where she was found. Maybe it's because I was listening to a description of what was found, rather than watching something on the case, but what struck me in RobinW's retelling was that the backpack found with her was not the famous "red" backpack, but a blue one. I know she was also found with a wedding ring.

The thought I had listening to the podcast, which I'd never had before, is: what if this isn't Judy Smith at all? I know it's a long shot, but bear with me. I thought it was an episode of Forensic Files I'd "listened" to in my car once, but if it was I can't find it - in any case, I once listened to some case wherein dental records were either used inappropriately or were not properly read or something. In the case in question, a body was misidentified.

I wonder if a second, independent look at the dental records might be warranted in this case. I say this because there is no earthly reason anyone can think of why Judy should have been where she was. And, aside from those dental records, how could she be identified? I know there was a wedding ring, but if you asked me to ID my wife's wedding band out of context from among several, I might have a hard time myself, and I bought that one. Could I swear if I saw it by itself that it was DEFINITELY the one I bought her? Maybe, and my wife's is fairly distinctive. If it were even slightly more generic, I might have a hard time.

I know there is the fairly credible-sounding eyewitness who purported to have a conversation with a woman from Boston near to where Judy's body was found - but I wonder if there might not have been some confirmation bias involved. It would depend on how the question was asked. For example, it strikes me as possible this conversation did indeed take place - and that it was NOT with the woman found on the mountain. That there was, in other words, some Judy from Boston in the area, and this had nothing to do with the body found up the hiking trail. I can also think of lots of other possibilities about how that story may deconstruct, even if it is Judy's body that was found. Eyewitnesses and all.

It was the absence of the red backpack that got me to thinking - if she did leave on her own, as the story as it stands suggests she did, at least to a point - that backpack would have been the only thing she had with her, it would have contained all of her valuables. What happened to it? Why was a blue one there instead? With money in it? The presence of the blue one suggests no robbery, but then where is the red backpack? And was Judy much of a hiker? Would she have even been inclined to go to this remote location where she was found? I don't get much of an indication from the segment she would have.

It's a long shot, that had never occurred to me before listening to RobinW's segment, but I do wonder if it might not be worth just taking a second, independent look at the dentals to see if it can be independently confirmed that it really was her up there. Honestly, the case in many ways would make more sense if it wasn't.

That’s actually a very interesting theory I’d never thought of. There are cases where victims have been misidentified through dental records. I know there was a John Wayne Gacy victim where DNA testing proved that the wrong missing boy had been identified as the victim through dental records, so it’s not unprecedented. However, in that case, they were working with skeletal remains and dental records which were decades old, whereas Judy’s remains and dental records would have been current. Interestingly enough, one of the articles about the case stated that the victim found in North Carolina had arthritis in her right knee, yet I’ve never been able to find confirmation anywhere if Judy had arthritis in her knee.

Since so many things don’t seem to fit, it would make a whole lot more sense if the victim found on the mountain wasn’t Judy Smith, but she was known for being an avid hiker, so I don’t think it’s a stretch that she would have been at that location when she was killed. Yet it would be interesting to see if they'd be willing to do a DNA test, just to be sure.

Investigators on the segment said that they found the backpack and a pair of glasses at the scene that they believe belong to the suspect. Who knows what became of Judy's red backpack, but whoever murdered her obviously took the effort to bury her remains, so I wouldn't be surprised if he kept the backpack as some sort of souvenir.

She was known to enjoy hiking and backpacking, so it's not a stretch that she visited the Biltmore estate and Pisgah forest. It's more unusual that she left town without at least telling her husband, but she was an adult and some people handle situations that way.

Barring some information that the investigators haven't released, I think the backpack is a red herring. The blue backpack contained winter clothing and cash; unless the clothing was ostensibly a man's or in sizes that Judy wouldn't have worn, I'm not sure why police think this was the suspect's bag. People replace worn backpacks all of the time, although the theory that someone purchased the bag and/or glasses for her is intriguing. It does seem like Judy was quite capable of omitting her feelings and plans.

The killer took her wallet, with her ID, American Express card and phone card, but might have been too preoccupied to go through her possessions (where cash was variously hidden). I'm not sure that robbery was the principal motivating factor here anyway.