The Mysterious Disappearance of Vanessa Dawn Smith
The 15-year-old vanished while taking a walk around her neighborhood.
Vanessa Dawn Smith and her mother, Beverly, would normally take a walk together every night after dinner. On the evening of May 31, 1997, Beverly was still cleaning up when Vanessa was ready to leave, so the 15-year-old decided to go walking alone. The sun was still shining brightly when she left her Winton, California home around 7:00 pm, and she assured her parents that she would be back well before it started to get dark. Her mother watched as Vanessa grabbed her walking stick and started heading down the street, never realizing that this would be the last time she saw her daughter.
When Vanessa wasn’t home by 8:00 pm, her parents started to get worried. Vanessa and her mother would normally walk from their home on Winton Way to Mercedes Avenue, then cut through an almond field that circled back towards their house. Art and Beverly decided to walk along the same route to see if they could find their daughter; they found their first clue just 200 yards away from their house. Vanessa’s walking stick was lying abandoned under an almond tree at the corner of Mercedes Avenue.
Vanessa always carried her walking stick when she and her mother went on their evening stroll. She considered it a form…