18-year-old Kelsey Smith went on a run to Target, then vanished without a trace. This is the last known footage of Kelsey Smith, an 18-year-old who had graduated from high school just 9 days earlier. That day, she was shopping at the local Target. At first glance, everything seems normal, but look closely.

It seems she’s being followed. Moments later, as Kelsey returns to her car, things take a disturbing turn for the worse. That evening, Kelsey Smith disappeared. Authorities in Overland Park are looking for a missing 18-year-old girl, Kelsey Smith. Kelsey left Target last night around 700 p.m., but never returned home.

There’s no concrete evidence that a crime’s been committed. She’s just missing. and it was important to be able to get the missing person out in front of the people through the media, newspaper, radio, TV, however we could do it. And so that was my goal was calling different news stations and and trying to push it.

Keep her in your prayers. Um Kelis, if you’re out there watching us, we’re coming. We’re not going to stop until you’re home. Nothing is going to stop us from bringing her back with us. It’s a regular weekend for offduty cop Greg Smith, his wife Missy, and their 18-year-old daughter Kelsey, who had just graduated from high school.

That afternoon, Kelsey drives to Target to pick up a gift for her boyfriend, John. The two are celebrating their 6-month anniversary. She expects it to be a quick, uneventful errand. There and back, nothing more. But things don’t go as planned. She was at Target around 7 7ish. Um, and I knew she was supposed to go out with John like 7:30 or so.

Kelsey is supposed to meet Jon at her house around 7:30 that evening, but when he shows up, she still isn’t home. After half an hour with no sign of her, both Jon and Greg start to worry, especially when their calls go unanswered. Kelsey was the kind of teenager, unlike most, that even if she was a few minutes late, she would call to let us know because she didn’t want us worrying.

30 minutes and she’s late. I was calling different police departments around the area saying, “Hey, have you guys had contact with this car? This license plate number? Has there been any accidents?” That wasn’t calling to report her missing. That was me being a cop is what that was. Another half hour goes by before the family heads to Target, hoping Kelsey might just be stuck in the parking lot and unable to reach them.

But when they get there, neither she nor her car is anywhere to be found. Growing more anxious, they begin driving around the area, searching for any sign of her. On one of their rounds, they pull into the shopping center across the street. That’s where they finally spot it Kelsey’s car. But Kelsey herself is gone. Well, that that was a bad signal to me that the car was in a different place.

A signal that this could be a crime scene. And so I said, “Okay, everybody just stay away from it. Let me call the police.” 4 hours after Kelsey was last seen, police step in. Detectives begin a careful search of her car, examining every detail for even the smallest clue that might lead to her. We did find Kelsey’s purse.

As we were watching the police bag Kelsey’s car, your stomach is in your throat. We found the wrapping paper and the present that she had purchased at Target. Uh, it was kind of one of those moments where you look at each other and go, “This might not be good.” Inside of the car, there are no signs of a struggle, but something outside immediately catches the investigator’s attention.

What looks like a piece of fabric sticking out of the trunk. We hoped that she was in it, but prayed she wasn’t. I was literally holding my breath cuz I thought maybe that’s where she was. Um, and I was hoping if she was there that she was alive. When forensics open it, Kelsey isn’t there. When you don’t see her, I dropped to the ground.

Like, he just knew this is serious. This isn’t just, you know, she’s late or something. And then when she wasn’t there, it was like, so where is my child? Kelsey and Smith. Kelsey graduated from high school nine days ago. She was going to go to Kansas State University to become a veterinarian. A model student, full of energy, bright, and determined, Kelsey was wellliked by everyone who knew her.

very outgoing, uh, fun kid to be around, very headstrong, and she went out of her way to make you feel wanted. Most loving kid around. Kelsey was one to not let anyone be left behind. She was friends with everyone. She was big into social media. You put balloons on a friend’s locker and stuff, you’re going to post stuff like that, you know, you share everything with everyone.

And now this responsible 18-year-old, the girl everyone described as dependable and bright, vanishes without a trace. The police keep searching, but the car provides no leads. Nothing to indicate a crime has occurred. It almost seems as if someone simply drove it to the parking lot and left it there. Kelsey’s disappearance remains a complete mystery until detectives find a potential witness at the parking lot who may have seen it all.

Officers notice a security camera aimed at the lot, but it’s late and no one with access to the footage can be reached by morning. While they wait, detectives focus on interviewing Kelsey’s family and friends. Greg, Kelsey’s father and a police officer and his wife Missy are brought into an interrogation room. For now, that makes them official people of interest in the case.

I mean, they put us in a questioning roomus and they left us there for a little bit of time and there’s a camera up on the corner, you know, and I looked at Missy. I said, “You know, they’re watching us, right? Do you realize we’re both suspects right now?” She says, “Yeah.” And I said, “So, we’re going to answer the questions so they clear so they can look for the right person, but it’s just routine. They have to do this.

” All of this was standard procedure, part of the police protocol for handling missing person cases. The questioning doesn’t last long, and it quickly becomes clear that Greg and Missy are not under suspicion. Usually, investigators focus on the last person to see the missing individual or anyone they had contact with shortly before their disappearance.

In Kelsey’s case, she had spent most of her past few days with her boyfriend, John, making him the last person known to have been with her. When it came to suspects, I wasn’t thinking about John. He’s just such a wholesome kid that you would never think anything like that. But detectives had a different take. The main question is where Jon was before he drove to Kelsey’s house.

Since a common scenario for a boyfriend or girlfriend to be involved in the disappearance, detectives immediately put pressure on him. They ask the same question several times, phrased in different ways to watch his reaction. It It was like tearing my mind apart why they were doing this. Despite their efforts, Jon remains calm and consistent, giving no contradictory statements.

As soon becomes clear that his story holds up, he truly has no idea where Kelsey is or why she disappeared. 8 hours into the investigation, police still have no leads. Frustrated and desperate, Kelsey’s family decides to take matters into their own hands, launching their own unofficial search. Statistics show that the first 48 hours after someone goes missing are crucial.

After that, it may already be too late. Even if the person is found afterward, the chances of them being alive drop dramatically. Greg, Missy, and John mobilize hundreds of volunteers, splitting into groups to search the neighborhood. Each carries stacks of printed missing person flyers, going doortodoor and asking neighbors if they’ve seen Kelsey.

You really didn’t know what kind of community we lived in until this happened. Hundreds of people came out of nowhere to come search for my sister. And I don’t know any of these people, but these people are all family now. Meanwhile, more than 12 hours after Kelsey disappears, the family finally gains access to footage from the parking lot camera.

Police review several hours of video. And at 9:17 p.m., two hours after Kelsey was last in contact, a car pulls into the lot. Someone calmly gets out, but the image is too grainy to identify them. For the police, it’s a frustrating dead end. For Kelsey’s family, though, a glimmer of hope appears. A security camera at a nearby restaurant shows a girl who matches Kelsey’s description.

When the family arrives to examine the footage, their hearts race. They see her sitting with her back to the camera. Could it really be Kelsey? You hope it is because you’re hoping for any glimpse or any glimmer of hope for your child. It It wasn’t her. Time is running out and the police are hanging on to their last hope.

Before she vanished, Kelsey had been at Target, a store monitored by dozens of surveillance cameras. If she had really been there, the footage would confirm it. Investigators only need to catch a single shot of Kelsey. Yet, they soon realize that all 40 cameras in the store captured her full route that day. At 6:54 p.m.

, Kelsey Smith pulls into the parking lot. She gets out of her car and walks toward the store entrance. She disappears from view for a few seconds, but another camera quickly picks her up as she enters the building. Detectives track her every move, watching the footage closely. Kelsey moves at a relaxed pace, casually browsing the store and picking out what she needs.

She chats briefly with the cashier, pays for her purchases, and steps back outside. Only 10 minutes after arriving, she returns to her car, pulls out of the parking space, and drives off. The detectives are left stumped. It all appears to be a routine shopping trip. Yet, the tension is palpable. Every passing minute feels critical, and the police are still without any leads.

We have no further leads as to what might have happened to her. We are um sort of in the dark. The following day, 24 hours after Kelsey went missing, the police revisit the footage at headquarters with a team of specialists. 10 officers pour over the recordings repeatedly, but at first, nothing seems out of the ordinary.

Kelsey doesn’t speak to anyone. No one approaches her. She pays for her purchases, calmly exits the store, walks around her car, gets into the driver’s seat, and drives off. As they continue to study the moment she reaches her car, someone spots a detail that has been overlooked. While Kelsey walks around and opens the door, a rapid, barely noticeable movement occurs.

Just before she settles in and shuts the door. The camera angle doesn’t show the full picture, but it’s clear that someone darts behind the vehicle from the left side. After a brief 12 to 15 second pause, the car backs out and it drives away. I think for a moment you probably could have heard a pin drop in that room. Everybody stopped what they were doing.

Oh my god, did you see that? We stood there in silence just, you know, we looked at each other and said, “It’s kidnapping.” The detectives don’t want to, but they have no choice. They have to tell Kelsey’s family the devastating news. Their daughter has been taken by force. That um that feeling of power powerlessness comes back and it’s like can’t do anything to help her.

Although the police have video footage, the perpetrator’s identity isn’t clear. Still, it’s obvious he was likely following Kelsey before the abduction. So, the officers review the footage again, this time focusing on anyone who might be shadowing her movements. And then it becomes clear, each time Kelsey enters the camera’s view, a young man in a light t-shirt and dark shorts appears as well.

He keeps a careful eye on her, following her toward the checkout. As soon as she reaches the register, he moves deliberately toward the exit, clearly aiming to get outside first and wait for her there. The police need a clear image of his face. And finally, they get one. At the store’s exit, a short hallway between the doors is covered by a downward-facing camera, which captures his face in sharp detail.

About 25 hours after 18-year-old Kelsey Smith disappears, law enforcement intensifies the search for the suspect, a slim white male with shortcropped hair. Police release his photo to the media, appealing for public assistance. But instead of helping, the flood of tips ends up overwhelming them. Kansas police are searching for an 18-year-old girl who was carjacked and abducted on Saturday.

Authorities now have surveillance video from outside a department store that shows Kelsey Smith being forced into her own car. The department receives roughly 2,000 possible leads and following up on all of them would take at least 2 weeks. Time they simply don’t have. Investigators decide to turn their attention back to the surveillance footage.

The video now clearly shows the suspect running up behind Kelsey and forcibly pushing her into a vehicle. Another clip captures Kelsey’s car pulling into the Macy’s parking lot at 9:17 p.m. right across from Target. Someone calmly steps out of the car and walks away. This gives detectives a new line of thinking. Could the suspect have abandoned Kelsey’s car temporarily, intending to return later for his own vehicle? Going off that 9:17 p.m.

timestamp, we went back to the Target store, looked at the parking lot video from the Target store again for anything that happened after 9:17 p.m. By 9:22 p.m., detectives notice a dark colored pickup truck pulling out of the parking lot. While the connection to the crime isn’t completely solid, if this truck belongs to the abductor, the cameras should have captured his arrival at Target.

Kelsey arrives at the store at 6:54 p.m. And just a minute later, a dark blue pickup pulls in. This provides police with another glimpse of the suspect’s face. Blurry, but enough to confirm their description. A white male with short hair wearing a white t-shirt driving the blue pickup. This key detail narrows the investigation considerably.

3 and 1/2 days after Kelsey Smith vanished, authorities finally have a concrete suspect. I answered the phone and spoke to an individual who um told me, “I know who the guy is on the video.” The name that uh he gave me on the phone was Edwin Hall. Police receive calls from two people who can positively identify the man in the photos.

One says he’s a coworker, the other a friend. Both are completely certain it’s Edwin Hall, the owner of the blue pickup truck. There’s a big problem, though. Having seen his face in every local paper, Edwin is likely to try to run. And sure enough, when officers reach his home, they find him and a woman, later identified as his wife, loading a vehicle with boxes and bags and things, seemingly getting ready to leave.

Despite this, Edwin is immediately taken into custody. His fingerprints are recorded, and questioning begins. The police have one urgent question on their minds. Where is Kelsey Smith? During the interrogation, Edwin continues to claim he doesn’t know Kelsey. He admits that he is the person seen in the surveillance footage, but insists he only followed her because he found her attractive and he liked her legs.

He maintains that he had no direct contact with her after she left the store. While he is being questioned, the lab sends back fingerprint results. One of his prints matches one found on the seat belt in Kelsey’s car. That proves he was there. The flash of the fuzzy person on the video we saw was him. And there’s no denying it.

Confronted with this evidence, Edwin can no longer deny the truth. He admits that he had been tracking Kelsey wherever she went, waiting in the parking lot for her to exit the store. When she approached her car, he armed with a handgun made his move. Then he forced her to drive away.

2 hours later, Edwin returns alone and abandons Kelsey’s car in the Macy’s parking lot. He then walks back to Target, gets into his own truck, and drives home. 4 days after Kelsey disappears, the police finally obtain her phone records, tracking its location via cell towers by tracing texts sent to her boyfriend the evening she disappeared.

That that cell phone tower that you see about 300 yards away is the cell phone tower that Kelsey’s phone communicated with about 7:56 p.m. on Saturday night. Authorities immediately launch a search at Long View Lake, a wooded park about 20 minutes east of Target. After 45 minutes, Detective Bob Miller receives a call from the lead officer on the search team. They found Kelsey.

We get a call from the searchers that they have found Kelsey. She’s not alive. She was sad and strangled to death. We were at the end of our driveway when we were told Kelse was gone, that they had found her. And I just remember screaming, “Not my Kelse. Not my Kelse.” I pull up right in front of my parents house and I see them sitting on the back of dad’s pickup and they’re just balling.

and seeing my dad cry like that. And they just gave us this look and I just I just dropped to the ground and screamed no. Said no. And then I couldn’t walk. Edwin Hall is charged in connection with Kelsey Smith’s murder. Though he initially faces the death penalty, he fully admits his guilt and is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Mr. Hall to that charge. How do you plead? Guilty. We’ve asked Evan Hall about other murders in the Midwest they might be responsible for. And his reply was, “No, I’m not responsible for any. This is my first time of uh killing someone. My police instinct tells me it’s a lie.” The key evidence in the case was the surveillance video footage that ultimately helped catch the perpetrator, but tragically could not save the life of an innocent 18-year-old girl.

Awesome. Just to have met her. If I could text her right now, I’d say I’m sorry. Like, she was definitely there for me, which sucks. So, yeah, I’d probably just be I’m sorry. She wanted to be remembered for the way she made people feel. It’s not about the way she left Earth. It’s about the way she lived.

And that’s what’s most important.