...I haven't followed this case very closely, but tonight I decided to "catch up" and ended up reading for two straight hours! Many posts were so detailed and thought-provoking; this is the best thread I've seen since the Casey Anthony case. Since I hadn't looked at this topic for about two weeks, I thought I would find all kinds of new info and progress. However, as so many of you stated, LE is sitting on what it knows for now, leaving us on pins and needles as we wonder which direction the case will take. Like most sleuthers, I firmly believe that Michelle's ex is responsible for her disappearance and (imo) certain death. I am very worried that her remains will never be found... years ago, when I first started following missing person's cases, it seemed that most victims were eventually found, either dead or alive. More and more, though, the opposite is becoming the norm, especially when a woman is missing and the last person to see her was her husband/ex-husband/boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, and these stats are so disheartening!! : (
Then there are younger women, with no known history of ex's or domestic violence, who seem to have vanished into thin air. WHERE is Holly Bobo? WHERE is Lauren Spierer? WHERE is Haleigh Cummings? The list just goes on and on... Back to Michelle Parker> I just KNOW in my heart that Dale Smith murdered her, for all the reasons brought up already. I watched the "People's Court" video for the first time tonight, and WOW was there a lot going on there. DS is one strange and scary creep; just watching his face during the PC was like looking at Scott Peterson all over again, except I'm sure SP has a higher I.Q. But in both of them, one gets a sense of someone trying to act like a normal human being when actually they are full of narcissism and rage. If I didn't already know about DS's violent background and hatred of/contempt for women, the PC show would have had me laughing, as he looked truly blank, clueless, and just-plain-dumb. Like many of you have noted, he obviously had NO IDEA how he was being perceived in that courtroom! He thought he was some kind of "star", being "chosen" for the show a second time! He didn't realize people- including the freakin' JUDGE!- were making fun of him and seeing him as an idiot. Even when he "won" the case and was being escorted out, he was trying to establish, via texts, that Michelle was still interested in him... when the talking head smirked and refused to look at the text, DS gets mad like a little kid and calls MP "bipolar," which makes him look ignorant and immature. Little did he know that seconds earlier, a very poised and businesslike Michelle had calmly accepted the "verdict" and strongly- rationally- firmly insisted that their relationship was definitely OVER. So when he finally sees the show (and how it's edited) on TV (after bragging about it and telling everyone to watch it), he finally realizes that he has made a fool of himself and becomes livid with rage. He is incapable of laughing at himself and he thinks nothing is ever HIS fault, so he turns his violence on Michelle... that ***** who got the kids and the Hummer... the ***** who is working hard and moving on, who looks more beautiful than ever, who has a new boyfriend, a new life. Surely he knew he wouldn't do any better, even as he desperately enters "hot body" contests in a desperate attempt to be a "star" of some sort, to be worshipped and envied. Maybe, deep down, he realized that no one was rushing to join his fan club, especially no hot females like he deserved. Plus, he had years and years ahead of paying child support for twins, twins his ex had custody of, twins who would eventually get a "new" daddy. Here is a grown man who (sounding like an 8-year-old) brags on his Facebook wall that he "Studied Death, Destruction, Terror and Mayhem at USMC"!!! Failing to mention, of course, that the "USMC" had booted him out with a Dishonorable Discharge!! I mean, this is his maturity level! Combine that with a history of violence toward women, and it is easy to imagine him "snapping" and killing Michelle. Easy. I guess that Michelle was so excited and busy building her new life that she let her guard down, and forgot how dangerous he could truly be. After all, in her mind, they were "over" and she had moved on. They had to continue seeing one another because of the twins, but I'm pretty sure she felt safe dropping them off or picking them up because why would he try anything in front of their children? And she could always call on her new boyfriend, or her family, if he tried anything... I just hope it was quick, whatever he did to get rid of her, and I hope she is found and that Dale Smith pays for what he did, as in my opinion he is a sociopathic MONSTER.