GA GA - Oliver Smith, 84, Columbus, 10 April 1996

New Posts

georgiagirl

georgiagirl

Opinionated Southern Belle
Joined
Oct 18, 2005
Messages
1,072
Reaction score
70
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/s/smith_oliver.html

Smith was last seen at his home in the Oakland Park area of south Columbus, Georgia at 9:00 a.m. on April 10, 1996. He told his wife he was going into the backyard to plant zinnias and would be back in a few minutes. He has never been heard from again. He left his wallet behind on the kitchen table.
Smith is a retired colonel and at the time of his disappearance, he and his wife were planning to embark on a cruise with the local Retired Officers Association. Both were in good physical and mental health at the time of his disappearance.
 
If thats the real events that took place that is really strange .If thats how it happend he must of had a confrontation with a neibhour in the back yard or something..
 
I remember reading this thread last year and thinking that it really is bizarre!

I have searched high and low for articles and media about Oliver Monroe Smith, but I can't find any! Does this strike anyone else as being a bit strange?

His disappearance was SO weird that it should at least have made one of those 'Ten most mysterious disappearances' articles, but... nothing.
 
It's very odd that there's no information about this.

Here's a slightly off-the-wall bit of speculation;

I no longer have an Ancestry.com subscription, but I am seeing on google a result for a Monroe Oliver Smith listed as having died in 1969 rather than 1996.

Is it weird to anyone else that the last photograph of this man which was supposedly taken in 1996 is in black and white? It might just be a newspaper copy, but disappearances this recent seem to usually have multiple color photographs.

So, could the year possibly have been a typo? If someone with an Ancestry account wants to check, the result should be easy to find.

ETA:

Just noticed his age. That certainly throws a wrench in my theory! :doh:
 
I have no Ancestry account, but that still seems interesting, even if the age might not fit.

Very good point about the photo! I hadn't thought of that!
 
I just checked your link and if you click on the link for her spouse Oliver M Smith, it appears to give details of his burial.

That would make it appear that he was found deceased, BUT the date of death is Oct 13 2003. If his body were found, how would they know that he died on that specific day? If he was found on that date, newly deceased, where had he been for 7 years???

Perhaps his body was just found that day so thats the date they used even though he died years earlier?

Hmmmmm.......
 
Actually, the same buriel plot is listed for both? They could be buried together, or perhaps there has been some confusion. He was declared dead with no body and so it was automatically assumed that he was buried with his wife.

The entries on that site were both made on the same date in 2010 and it says next to the family links bit on the wife's memorial that the relationship was automatically calculated by the site, not entered specifically. Could this be relevant??
 
j123 said:
FINALLY found something!

Here is his wife's obituary:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46991707

This man has a grave, and his date of death is listed as 2003! Was he found, or is that how long it takes to declare someone dead after they've been missing?
Click to expand...

Hang on! I just did some googling and it seems that the typical period for declaring death in Absentia (without the body) is 7 YEARS! That would fit perfectly with the date given for Oliver Monroe Smith's death.

His name might be on his wife's headstone because he is declared dead, but his body hasn't been found. I BET thats it.

If it is, the mystery of what happened to Oliver Monroe Smith still remains.... :(
 
I found a couple Does

This one seems like it could be a match; the man is elderly, and it was found in the same county he lived and disappeared in:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/2017umga.html
Oddly, this Doe is not listed on the website the information is sourced from; has it been identified?

This one seems too young, but also had evidence of medical issues I would associate with someone Oliver's age. Oliver was wearing "work clothes" when he went missing; do these fit that description?
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1066umga.html

And then a long-shot; I don't think it's him, but it sounds like someone who could be easily ruled out because of the distinctive health issues:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/314umga.html
 
Number one seems most likely, I am a bit put off number two because this UID was likely racially mixed, and number three is interesting but appeared to have brown hair (I think OMS's hair would have been grey).

I think you could really have a match with number one, actually. You should submit it. :)
 
Looking for an email address to contact

Weirdly, Oliver's case is also missing from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations website.
 
I just realised that Oliver (if living) would be 100 years old this November..
 
I don't understand how an adult vanishes from their backyard. In the daytime how did nobody see anything?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Does anyone remember that case very similar to this one where an elderly man told his wife he was going outside and he just disappeared? His car was still there but no trace of him. His wife died and I think it was like 20 years later the house was being torn down and they found his body in a crawl space. The crawl space was filled with a bunch of creepy stuff including a mirror. He has shot himself in the head.

I just wonder if Oliver could have done something similar.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It's been a long time since anyone posted here about "Ollie", but I found your posts when I did a web search because of some old papers I've just gone through at my house. A good friend I met while stationed at Ft. Benning (86-91) sent me the information about him going missing. My friend has since passed away, and I'm not really in touch with anyone there we all used to know. Orba was his wife, and I am not sure where they are buried. If it's like where my parents are buried in a GA National Cemetery, their information is printed on both sides of the headstone. My father died first, so his was put there, then my mother's info was put on the back of his and she was buried there with him.
The article I have is from the Ledger-Enquirer and dated April 20, 1996. Their son, Pat Smith wrote a heartfelt thank you to all who had done so much to find his dad - from the fire department, EMS, Police, GA National Guard, Counselors, WTVM, Chanel 9 in Columbus, the K-9 rescue Association, friends and churches all over. There was also a reward fund created by the family and friends of Oliver Smith. It seems like my friend Selina mentioned the possibility of them declaring him dead after not finding him in 7 years, but that was a long time ago and I'm not sure. I really can't imagine not having closure for a loved one's death. I'm sure they left no stone unturned in the search for him. As my mother used to say - certainly a mysterious mystery.
 
Thank you for joining us LouJ77! It was lovely to see Oliver's thread pop up on my 'watched threads' list. It has been a long time since I have seen the thread, but I do think of him every now and then. Was he known as Ollie to his friends and family?

Its really wonderful to know that he has people looking for him. With no information coming back from our Google searches, I feared that he just didn't have anyone left to look for him. :(

Are you able to share any more information with us?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 224 more.
Total: 3,132 (members: 225, guests: 2,907)

Online statistics

Members online
225
Guests online
2,907
Total visitors
3,132
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
592,138
Messages
17,963,999
Members
228,700
Latest member
amberdw2021
Back
Top