Kendall Rae (0:00)

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Kendall Rae (0:17)

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Kendall Rae (1:06)

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much for joining me today, and if you're new to the show, then welcome. I'm so happy to have you here. So, you guys, today we're getting into a case that happened 18 years ago, but it is just as painful today as it was back then. We're going to be Talking about the 2007 murder of Kelsey Smith. And one of the most upsetting parts about this case is the fact that Kelsey had literally just graduated high school and her future was bright and it was an arm's reach and it was all just ripped from her and her family out of nowhere. But speaking of her family, I just have to say right off the bat, they are such amazing people. And the way that they describe her, the love that they had for her and everything that they have done since she died is what truly inspired me to even talk about her case today. Because I think the work that they have done since and the way that they have kept her memory alive needs to be highlighted. I also just wanted to mention right off the bat, in case Kelsey's family sees the intro of this episode and maybe doesn't watch the entire thing that me and my team over at Higher Hope would love to offer you all a grant. I'll explain, but Kelsey's family also has a foundation and we would love to help support your mission in any way we can. Let's go ahead and get into Kelsey's case and I'm happy that I do have a lot to tell you About Kelsey, there's a lot of information available about the wonderful person that she was. On May 3, 1989, Kelsey Ann Smith was born. Her parents, Greg and Missy, were just over the moon, excited to welcome her into this world. And at the time, she was their youngest, she had two older sisters, and her oldest was actually from her mom's first marriage. And then after she was born, they went on to have two more kids, making Kelsey the middle of five. And growing up, she used to joke that she had middle child syndrome. And it sounds like from the time that she was young, she was always quite the little explorer and very curious. And her parents said that she was also very inquisitive. And she earned herself the nickname no no, which I love, and I'm sure you can guess why. It's because her parents were always telling her no, no. She also got the nickname Blueberry because of how much she loved the color blue. And although she was born in Charleston, South Carolina, their who ended up moving to Overland Park, Kansas when she was nine after Greg got out of the Navy. And her father, Greg was actually originally from there, so he was very excited to move his family back to his home turf, you could say. And he was especially excited because this part of Kansas is known to be very, very safe. I guess it's like 20, 25 minutes south of Kansas City, and it's a, you know, very residential, family friendly community. And a friend of mine, actually who lives in Kansas is familiar with the area, and she said it's known to be very safe. Of course. I feel like this is such a cliche thing to say in true crime, because no area is free of crime. Something can happen anywhere. But generally speaking, if you're raising a family, this would be a great place to do it. In fact, at least from my understanding, it's got some of the best public schools in the entire state. And Kelsey attended one of those schools. She went to Shawnee Mission west, and absolutely thrived there. She was a dedicated member of the marching band where she played clarinet, and she also sang in the choir and was part of the theater program. And she was super talented at all of those things. Plus she also ran track, she kept up good grades, and on top of it all, had a thriving social life. Her dad said that for whatever reason, their house was the one that all of her friends like to come to. So on any given day, there would typically be a group of girls there watching TV or playing games. And it really doesn't surprise me that she had such a great group of Friends. I think Kelsey is a good example of your vibe attracts your tribe. People say that she was funny, she was kind, responsible, always loved exploring, and that she just had the biggest heart. And I love this specifically, they said that she was scrubbed in sunshine. That's how happy of a person she was. Not to mention the fact that she was someone who could turn any stranger into a friend and was never afraid to try something new. I mean, like I've said, she had a very funny side to her and she really liked to grind her mom's gears, tease her a little bit. And I guess her mom, Missy, could not stand when people burped. So Kelsey loved to chug soda and then let out these massive perps just to get on her nerves. But other than that, and obviously that didn't cause actual problems for her parents. But it seems like overall, Kelsey was not the type of child that her parents had to worry about, or not the type of teenager that her parents had to worry about, which is pretty rare for a teenager in general. It was so nice for them that she had done so well in school and that they could trust her. She never caused issues, never really got into trouble. And so they were all really excited about the idea of her going off to college. So. So she graduated from high school on May 24th of 2007, and her plan was to go to Kansas State University, which is only about two hours away, and she was going to study veterinary medicine. She also had plans of joining the marching band alongside her sister. But until then, she had, you know, the final summer at home to look forward to. And this is such a special time in so many people's lives. And that summer she planned on spending a lot of time with her boyfriend John. By June of 2007, Kelsey had been dating her boyfriend John for six months. And it was a very serious six months for them and everyone around them knew it. Kelsey's older sister Stevie said that the two of them were so in love that it was almost annoyingly cute. Her whole family was just convinced that they were going to end up together one day. And you can just tell in these photos how much the two of them truly care for each other, especially this one picture of them smiling. They both just look so happy and comfortable with each other and God, it's just heartbreaking to look at now. And the night of Saturday, June 2, they had plans to go and celebrate their six month anniversary, which of course is a big deal at that age. I remember Josh and I celebrating our six month anniversary in high school and you know, you gotta celebrate these little milestones in young relationships. When you live in activewear, you can never have enough. This week I was in the gym four days in a row and I realized, oh my gosh, I go through quite a bit of activewear, but the good stuff usually costs a fortune. That's why I truly love Fabletics. I cannot say enough good things about Fabletics. And it's not just activewear. They have so many options. I get pieces that feel premium and perform like the expensive brands without the crazy price tag and the quality really surprised me. Their pieces feel like a lot of the high end activewear that I've invested in over the years. But I'm getting that quality at a fraction of the price, which makes the membership feel like it just pays for itself. And I have this little thing going with myself in the gym that every month I'll set some type of goal. And if I reach my goal, I get a little activewear treat which makes it more fun. And that's why I love being a member of Fabletics is if I meet my goal, I get to use my membership for the month. And for those of you out there who are pregnant like me, they even have some maternity wear options. Really great maternity leggings. So treat yourself to gear. That looks good. It's going to make you feel good and doesn't break the bank with Fabletics. Go to Fabletics.com TCKR and sign up as a VIP and get 80% off everything. That's Fabletics.com TCKR to sign up as a VIP and get eighty percent off everything. Once again, Fabletics.com TCKR so their plan was to meet up around 7:30 and first they were going to go to a friend's pool party and then after that they were just gonna go get dinner. But before all of that, Kelsey wanted to make a quick run over to Target to grab a gift for him. Earlier in the day she had gone to the Old Shawnee Days Summer festival with her dad. And it just so happened that 6:30ish was when she had time to go to Target. Greg says she even left and then came home really quickly because she forgot a CD that she wanted to listen to on her way there. So she grabbed that. She told her dad she loved him and that she'd see him when she came home. And little did Greg know this would actually be the last time he saw his daughter. And I'm just so happy that they at least got to spend that day together doing something fun and memorable. Now as far as her mom goes, she was actually on her way home from a wedding in Iowa. So she wasn't there when Kelsey left. But they did end up talking on the phone, thankfully. So Kelsey arrived at the Target by Oak Park Mall at 6:55pm and within just a minute minute of arriving, she called her mom to ask where she could find the boxes for part of her gift. It sounds like she was planning to make him a scrapbook, but she had gone to Target looking for wrapping paper as well and also a box for him so that he could store his cards and letters, which is a really sweet and thoughtful gift. So Missy was talking her through that while Kelsey walked around and grabbed everything she needed. They eventually hung up and her mom did get the chance to tell her that she loved her and that she would see her when she got home. But Kelsey never made it home that night. Right around 7:30pm, John showed up at her place to pick her up as planned for their six month anniversary. And he had also purchased a gift for her that night. He was planning to give her a promise ring. But when he got there, she wasn't back yet. And at first this wasn't a huge deal. They thought maybe she was running a little late. But then 30 minutes went by and soon Greg and also her sister Lindsay started to get concerned. By this point, Kelsey had been gone for over an hour. And this was not the be at Target for more than an hour kind of trip. This was a quick stop at Target. Not to mention the fact that Greg had this rule where his kids would have to call them whenever they were out and going from place to place. That way someone always knew where you were. And Kelsey was responsible about this. This was very unlike her. And keep in mind, Greg worked in law enforcement for a local community college, so he liked to be extra cautious. And so knowing all of that, they were very concerned when Kelsey didn't come home and wasn't answering their calls, texts. And once Missy heard what was going on from her daughter Lindsay, she told her that they needed to call the police. And that's exactly what Greg did. And since he worked in law enforcement, he was making several calls to a few different departments trying to see if she had gone into an accident or maybe she had been pulled over in some kind of, you know, traffic violation. And her sisters were also calling different emergency rooms trying to see if Kelsey had possibly been brought in, but nothing came out of it. So that's when Lindsay and John just decided to go to Target and see if they could find her. They Thought maybe she was locked out of her car, maybe her phone died or was somehow in the car, she lost her phone, something like that. Or maybe she didn't find what she needed at Target, so she had decided to go to the mall looking for a different gift. But when they pulled into the Target parking lot, neither Kelsey or her car were there. And that's when they, of course, really started panicking. So they continued kind of just driving around the area, hoping they would find her. And Greg's parents also lived in the area, so they started driving, driving around, looking for her, too. And they were actually the ones that found her car. Turns out it had been parked in the Macy's parking lot, which was on the other side of the mall. The scary part, though, was that Kelsey was still nowhere to be found. And as soon as Greg got the call from Lindsay that it was found, he remembers very sternly telling her that absolutely no one could touch it. I guess John wanted to look inside, understandably, but Greg was like, I don't care what you have to do, I don't care if you have to tackle him. Do not let him go near it. He knew that this was a crime scene, and he immediately called 911 to report what they had found. And by 11 o' clock that night, that Macy's parking lot became the launching point for the investigation into Kelsey's disappearance. So as soon as law enforcement arrived, they started processing her vehicle right away. And there were several things that just jumped out at them off the bat. And one of those things was that there was something, possibly a piece of clothing or fabric that was hanging out of the trunk. And of course, Kelsey is a teenager. She didn't keep her car super clean. But Greg said that she would have never left something just hanging out like that. And of course, he and Missy worried that maybe she was in the trunk, maybe it was a piece of her clothing hanging out. Missy was back in town by this point, so she was with them at the scene, and they had to open up the trunk. And Greg said that he had his hands over his eyes and both of them just held their breath as it was being opened, but it was empty. There were, however, some frightening clues in the passenger side of her car. That's where they found her keys, her purse, as well as the items that she had just purchased at Target. But what they didn't find was her cell phone or any signs of a struggle, which made this that much more confusing. And for her parents, it made it that much more terrifying, because, as I mentioned, Kelsey had just graduated from high school literally nine days earlier, and for her graduation present, her parents had gotten her a coach bag. This was a big deal. Normally, they didn't give out big gifts, so she was super excited and grateful to have this. This coach purse was a prized possession of hers, so to see it just left in the car was even more proof that something terrible had to have happened. And it is absolutely gut wrenching to hear Greg talk about his daughter's case in general in any interviews that he's done, because he talks about how, as all of this was happening, he almost had to go into cop mode as opposed to dad mode, because it was just too emotional to think about this. So personally, as an officer, he knew all of the signs were pointing to something bad having happened. So looking at it like a cop allowed him to keep it together in a way that he knew he had to and he knew he couldn't if he looked at it through the lens of Kelsey's dad. And as some of us can only thankfully imagine, that night and every day following was truly a living nightmare, just torture for all of them. And they, you know, through all of that, stayed as strong as they could, and they were just determined to do whatever they possibly could to try and find her. So while investigators brought the car in to be forensically processed, Missy and Greg agreed to go into the station for questioning. And they, of course, wanted to get this over as quickly as possible so that investigators can move on to finding the true person responsible. And it did not take long at all for the two of them to be cleared. So next, investigators turn their attention to John, who they definitely didn't go easy on. They asked him a series of very hard questions, often rephrasing the same question in different ways to see if he changed his answers. But just like with her parents, it did not take long for them to realize he had absolutely nothing to do with this either. Plus, he also had an alibi for the time that she was missing, so he was free to go. And with a million questions still looming at this point, this is when everyone turned their attention to Kelsey's cell phone. Because she was missing and her phone was also missing, her family and law enforcement thought it was possible she had it with her. And John had actually mentioned that his uncle worked for Sprint and that these companies can ping cell phones in order to get an estimate of their location. So that night, Missy and Greg start calling Verizon and asking if they could ping the location of Kelsey's phone. And Verizon said no. And I kid you not. Missy was on the phone with different associates at Verizon for a long time, just pleading with them to help because her child is missing. And it didn't matter who she spoke to, the answer was still the same. No, all they told her over and over was that she could go online onto their website and pull up her call activity, her call log. But they didn't need her call activity. They needed her location history. And Missy says that trying to get them to release these records was one of the most maddening things that she has ever experienced in her life. And I can absolutely see why. To be dealing with something like that during one of the worst moments of your life, probably the worst is just torture. Her daughter is missing and these people hold the key to potentially being able to find her and they just won't do it. They don't seem to care. Honestly, I would just be beyond myself, livid. My blood is boiling just thinking about what they put her through. And what's outrageous too is the Overland Park Police Department also had been calling Verizon asking for the location data of her cell phone pings and they wouldn't give it to them either. They needed a court order. But of course that's not something that you can just obtain at the drop of a hat. These days I am barely carrying around a wallet. Honestly, most days I am not. Now I have my license on my phone and I have all the ways to pay on my phone and I'm constantly sending money to my friends over my ph and receiving money from my friends over my phone. And of course my first choice when it comes to doing that and has been four years, far longer than they've been sponsoring me, is Cash App. Because Cash App is the best. And you know what else is always on my phone? Scams, scam calls, scam text messages. It feels like it's constant. But when you get the Cash App card, not only do you get access to tons of perks and benefits like exclusive early access to nationwide concert pre sales or discounts on popular brands, but you also have extra security with power to instantly lock or unlock your card from your phone with just a tap. And if a suspicious transaction pops up on your card, Cash App has your back by automatically declining the purchase and sending you a heads up to confirm if it's you or not. Behind the scenes, you can rest assured knowing that your account balance is protected 24. 7 by fraud monitoring. Spend with peace of mind today and order a Cash App card in the app or at Cash App card for a limited time. New Cash App Customers can earn $10 if they use the code Secure10 in their profile at signup and send $5 to a friend. 14 days terms apply. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Cash App Services provided by Cash App's Bank Partners Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank Member FDIC Discounts and promotions provided by Cash App a Block Inc. Brand. Visit Cash App Legal Podcast for full disclosures. So in the last couple months I have been introduced to Merit Beauty and I have two items specifically that have become essentials in my makeup bag. That is their Flush Bomb, which is a liquid cream blush and this blush I cannot say enough good things about it is so good, it is so pigmented. A little bit goes a long way. And then I am also loving their Clean Lash mascara. I don't know what it is about this mascara, but wow does it pack a punch. And it looks so real it doesn't clump. And you guys can't believe it. But Black Friday Cyber Monday sales are just around the corner. But the only thing better than shopping a sale is shopping a sale early. That's why Merit is here, with early access to their only sale of the year just for you. If you haven't heard of Merit, it's a minimalist beauty brand that makes elevated makeup and skin care designed to help you look put together in just minutes. Their best sellers are proof that less is more. The Flesh Bomb, like I mentioned, gives you that natural, healthy glow without overdoing it. And people love the flesh bomb, you guys. One was sold every 30 seconds in 2024. That's how good it is. And the best part is all of Merit's products are clean, they're vegan, they're cruelty free, and they're made nourishing skin care ingredients that leave your skin looking better long after taking off your makeup. Right now you can get early access to Merit's only sale of the year when you go to meritbeauty.com and use code EATCKR. From November 21st through the 23rd, you'll get 20% off site wide plus a gift with purchase while supplies last. That's M E r I t beauty.com enter promo code e a t c kr that's meritbeauty.com promo code e space a space tckr. But anyway, while they were waiting for that, Kelsey's family's efforts really became focused on the search. And by the morning of Sunday, June 3, their house practically had turned into its own mini command center. Between her parents, her siblings, her friends, and community members, there was a big group of people absolutely determined to bring her home. And with Greg's knowledge, he helped strategize how they were going to find her. It started off with getting flyers printed, and then hundreds of people started passing them out and performing their very own grid search. And by Monday, there were over 400 volunteers searching for her. And Greg was told after the fact that by the time that the police started their search, there was not a single person that they spoke to that hadn't already heard what was going on. That's how thorough they were. They called themselves Kelsey's army, and for good reason. And meanwhile, Greg and Missy gave as many media interviews as they possibly could, knowing that it would also help spread the word. And during this time, Missy says that they weren't sleeping or eating because of the agony they felt, wondering if their child was sleeping or eating. And Greg said that it physically hurt to breathe because he was in so much pain. But nothing was going to stop them from finding her or at least getting answers. And I'm grateful to say that the entire investigative team that was led by Bob Miller were just as determined. The morning after Kelsey went missing, a team of law enforcement officers went over to Target to see if they could obtain any security camera footage. And. And thankfully, I feel like I rarely get to say this in cases, but they had hours of footage from over 40 different cameras. And someone from Target's National Investigation center even came in to try and help them get everything that they needed. And when they watched it, they were able to piece her movements together quite easily. They could see her entering the store at 6:55pm and then she proceeded to walk through the aisles. They then watched as she went to the register at 7:05, and by 7:09, she was seen leaving. Now, when it came to the parking lot, that footage, unfortunately, was especially low quality, not only because we're talking about 2007 technology, but also Kelsey's car wasn't parked close to the camera, but based on what they could see, it looked like she put her items in the passenger side of the car and walked to the driver's side, where she got in and drove away. Which honestly kind of stunned everyone because at first pass, they didn't see anything to indicate that she was ever in danger. And Detective Miller even said that he was expecting to see an abduction happened right there on tape, but that was not what they were looking at. So that left everyone wondering, where was Kelsey and why was her car left in The Macy's parking lot. And to answer that question, they reached out to Macy's, hoping that they might have some surveillance footage as well. Before they managed to get that, though, they happened to get a tip saying that someone resembling Kelsey had just been spotted at a nearby restaurant. And everyone immediately turned their attention to this lead. And Greg and Missy were even brought there to see if it was her. And unfortunately, by the time they had gotten there, the girl was gone. And after they watched the surveillance footage at the restaurant, they realized that it was not even her. But after that, they refocused their attention back to Macy's because they did have security footage. And that footage ended up being very, very useful. It was dark, and it wasn't the best quality, but they could see that at 9:17pm, Kelsey's car was driven into the parking lot. And then a man wearing a white shirt and dark shorts could be seen ex the car and walking away from the camera. And even though it was clearly not Kelsey, it wasn't obvious who it was. But investigators figured there had to be some sort of explanation for this person bringing her car back to the mall area. I mean, what had happened here? So that's when they decided they needed to give the target footage a closer look. And I mean, closer look, because the first time they had viewed it, they were watching it on like a 15 inch screen. This time, though, they brought it into the command center and they projected it on a massive wall so they could really a good look at it. And they brought in a ton more people, so there were, you know, a greater number of eyes, and that would guarantee that nothing would be missed. And when they watched it back again, they finally saw it. As Kelsey was in the parking lot about to get into the driver's side of her Buick, a flash ran across the top part of the video. And you guys, it is so subtle and quick that you would definitely miss it if you blinked. It is hard to see at first, but that flash was a person wearing a white shirt and dark shorts, just like the guy seen in the Macy's footage. And they say that you could have heard a pin drop in the room because it was so silent. When everyone realized what they were actually seeing. And that wasn't the end of it either. When they began going through the footage from the inside of the store, they realized that a man matching the same description could be seen following Kelsey from aisle to aisle. It was very clear that he wasn't shopping for anything. He was stalking her, making sure to stay close, but not close enough. That she would notice him. And this footage, oh, man, it is just chilling. He just seems so calm, and somehow they just didn't notice this the first time around. And that's likely because the two of them never had interacted. He left the store before she did. And they were able to see that when Kelsey started approaching the register, this strange man just beelined it out of Target. And thankfully, the camera that faces the exit was able to get a pretty clear shot of his face. And on top of that, they were able to go back through the additional parking lot footage, and they managed to find a guy matching his description driving into the parking lot only a minute after Kelsey first arrived. He was in a dark blue Chevy, which had also been captured driving around the backside of the store. They'd even captured footage of him driving out of the Target parking lot later that night, not long after, the guy matching his description was seen dropping off Kelce's car at Macy's. So of course, they've pieced together at this point that this is all likely the same person. And now they not only know what he looks like, but they know what kind of car he drives. And after Greg and Missy reviewed these tapes and confirmed they didn't recognize who he was, his photo and description were released to the media. And right away there were tons of tips. I read that over 2,000 people called in, and luckily three of those tips pointed them in the right direction. And these tips came from Overland park residents who said that they thought thought the guy on their TV screen was their neighbor, 26 year old Edwin Hall. And just FYI, that is the last time that I'm going to say his name in this episode. Kelsey's parents have chosen not to acknowledge this monster, and I'm going to follow their lead on that. I think that's awesome. I will of course tell you what you need to know about him, but I'm not going to get into his whole history. It's not worth our time or breath. So anyway, investigators looked his ass up and they realized that he she both matched the physical description, and he also drove a blue Chevy. So all this information was good enough for them to take a closer look at him. And they even sent Kelsey's computer to a Missouri crime lab to see if there was any evidence that the two of them knew each other. But he was a complete stranger. And before investigators were even able to send a team out to talk to him, they got a phone call from a lawyer saying that he was representing this guy and that he wanted to talk so they ended up sending a few officers to his house to go get eyes on him. Come to find out he, his wife and their kid were packing boxes into his truck. Now, I don't think their initial plan was to talk to him, but once they saw him clearly trying to leave, they knew they had to intervene. And ultimately he was asked to come into the station. Right away, though, they realized that he wasn't going to tell them anything. He and his lawyer sat there for quite a while and the whole time he sits there, quite literally with his nose up at them. And you can tell he just thinks he's the smartest person in the room. And apparently he even wanted them to tell him what evidence they found, which obviously that's not the way these things work, buddy.