A family's worst nightmare is for a child to go missing, and the sister of one child who disappeared more than 32 years ago in Hot Springs is working to save others from her heartache.
Lisa Allen, whose 16-year-old sister, Jeffery Lynn Smith, went missing while walking home from school on Dec. 4, 1985, is one of the organizers behind a child safety event scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Hot Springs Mall, hosted by consultants from Team HOPE, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Hot Springs police.
The event, being held in Smith's memory, will be from 4-9 p.m. both days, with Allen on hand to answer questions and share her story. Free Child ID kits to include an up-to-date, good quality photo of one's child along with descriptive information, will be available. Participants will also learn about a new app from Safety Central-NCEMC offering a digital ID kit so all the child's information can be stored on one's phone.
Hot Springs police Detective Leeann Zaner said they will hand out other resource materials, provided by the Morgan Nick Foundation, and will have posters of Arkansas missing children on display.
At the time Smith was last seen around 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, 1985, she was reportedly with her then-boyfriend, Frank Hannah, walking on Silver Street headed to her home in the 1000 block of Illinois Street. The next day, Smith was reported missing by her mother, Clarice, and at the time detectives investigated the case as a runaway juvenile since there was no evidence of foul play. She was supposedly seen getting on a bus, but that was never confirmed.
Allen, who was in college at the time of Smith's disappearance, told The Sentinel-Record previously she never believed Smith had run away from home because "she just wasn't the type."
She noted Smith had never run away before or expressed any type of discontent or problems at home.
"We all had a very close relationship and we loved my sister with all our hearts," she said.
Smith, the daughter of Lee Versie Smith and Clarice Smith, was one of four children. Allen said she was a good student who had planned to follow her older sister into college and dreamed of being an Olympic swimmer or gymnast.
She said the family has accepted the fact something must have happened to Smith and still hope for closure.
By all accounts, the investigation into her disappearance appeared to end in the spring of 1986. The officers and detectives who handled the report and investigation have all since retired or passed away, police said Friday.
In January 2008, it was learned that the National Crime Information Center had purged Smith's name out of the system as a missing person. She was placed back into NCIC as soon as this was discovered.
At that point, Smith's case was reopened by Zaner as a "cold case" and dozens of people were interviewed locally and with the help of NCMEC (Project Alert), in multiple other states regarding her disappearance. Hundreds of hours were spent finding and reviewing old reports and conducting follow ups and interviews.
In the summer of 2008, officers conducted a massive search of areas where Smith's body was said to be located, but nothing was found. On Dec. 7, 2010, NCMEC brought trained cadaver dogs to Hot Springs and searched the area for a full day, but no remains were found.
The areas focused on included the 300 block of Cypressvale Street, a wooded area across the street to the east and the area between Chattanooga and Neptune streets, according to police reports at the time.
Several Investigators have looked at Smith's case in recent years, but no new information or developments have been discovered, police said. Her family members previously submitted DNA profiles which are entered into the national database where they can be used for analysis when unknown human remains are located. No matches have been found to date.
Smith's case is still open and anyone with information should contact police Lt. Duane Tarbet at 321-6789.
Local on 12/17/2017