As Thanksgiving approaches, the family of Dashad “Sage” Smith grapples with the third anniversary of the disappearance of the transgender teen, who was last seen on West Main Street. And they don’t agree with the latest police assessment of a person of interest.
Smith, 19, was on her way to meet Erik McFadden on November 20, 2012, and was last spotted at 6:40pm walking west. McFadden has long been a person of interest for police, but on November 16, Charlottesville Police say he may not have had anything to do with Sage’s disappearance because of new cell tower data, text messages and because he didn’t have a way to dispose of the body.
At 6:27pm, McFadden texts Smith, “Bye u stood me up smh”—“shaking my head” in text message lingo.
Phone records show that Smith was talking with a friend from Northern Virginia from 6:18pm to 6:37pm, and it’s unknown if she saw McFadden’s texts.
McFadden told his girlfriend in an e-mail that he and Smith met, and he walked away when Smith started talking to some guys in a car, says Captain Gary Pleasants. He also e-mailed the girlfriend that he was being blackmailed by Smith, according to a police affidavit for a search warrant.
Sage’s father, Dean Smith, says, “My family wasn’t aware of the fact that McFadden was no longer a person of interest and that he never met with Sage. That threw me for a loop.” And he thinks it makes perfect sense that if McFadden intended to harm Sage, he’d send a text saying Sage stood him up.
Police released a timeline that shows a witness talked to Smith, who was wearing gray and black rain boots with purple and pink lining, gray sweatpants and a black jacket with a hoodie, at 6:35pm in the 400 block of West Main. According to the witness, Smith said she was meeting someone at the Amtrak station.
Smith’s family has accused police of not giving Sage’s disappearance the same attention that UVA student Hannah Graham or Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington received when they disappeared.
“I think it’s not so much race as money,” says Dean Smith. “We’re not as wealthy as Hannah Graham’s parents or Morgan Harrington’s parents.”
Another sore point for him is the “48 Hours” episode on Graham in September. “They do not bring my child up,” he points out.
Police are offering $20,000 for information leading to the discovery of Smith and they plan to put up new posters on West Main. “We’re trying to jog people’s memories in the 400 to 500 block of West Main,” says Pleasants.
And Smith’s family will celebrate her life at a vigil at 5:30pm Friday at Lee Park.
Correction: The original post said Graham was featured on Dateline, rather than 48 Hours.