INDEPENDENCE — Mark Smith’s blue Ford Ranger still sits outside his two-story Independence home in the image captured on Google maps, but both Smith and his pickup truck have been missing for a year.
His hazel eyes still sparkle in the photo on his missing person poster, and there, he’s still smiling.
http://liarcatchers.com/missing_persons_investigations.html
“He was a happy person and he had a good life with nice things. He’s not the kind of person who would disappear,” said Mark’s sister Mechelle Wallace, who acts as a family spokesperson. “We haven’t heard one single thing. They haven’t found him. They haven’t found his truck. They don’t have a clue. It’s been a year, and we’re still just as baffled as we were a year ago.”
Wallace reported her older brother missing on Feb. 27, 11 days after the 50-year-old construction worker was last seen. He is approximately 6 feet tall and weighs 225 pounds. His Kentucky vehicle license plate is 816-AYX.
She said Smith’s adult son, Dustin, has been through the legal process to acquire survivorship benefits, and they are trying to sell Smith’s house.
“We have all been pitching in and making payments, but it’s been a year, so we decided to try and sell it. If he does come back or show up, we would just give him the money and let him start over,” said Wallace. She said the accounts will “pretty much sit there for seven years” unless Smith comes back to claim them.
After seven years, he can be declared legally dead, even if they never find out what happened.
“He vanished without a trace. It’s bizarre,” said Independence Police Chief Shawn Butler.
“There’s really nothing more for us to go on,” said Detective Jim Moore, who has been watching the case. “Right now, we have exhausted all of our leads. We know that nothing violent occurred in the house. We know that he wasn’t checked into rehab somewhere, not in hospitals or jails. His vehicle never turned up anywhere. There’s been no activity on his credit cards. Somebody out there knows what happened to Mark Smith. Somebody knows his story.”
Wallace said she thinks about her brother every day, searches social media and questions friends and acquaintances for any information she can find about what may have happened.
“Not knowing is terrible,” she said. “Not even having a clue is the worst part, because this is something my brother just wouldn’t do. I thought if somebody knew something they would come forward and say something. Nobody has said anything and I don’t understand why.”
To report any information about Mark Smith’s disappearance, visit crime-stoppers.us, call 513-352-3040, or call the Independence Police Department at 859-356-2697.
