http://www.wafb.com/Global/story.asp?S=1149156720-year missing person's case remains unsolvedPosted: Nov 12, 2009 9:50 AM EST Updated: Nov 12, 2009 9:50 AM EST
By Jim Shannon
BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - This week marks the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of a Louisiana woman. Authorities believe her husband played some type of role in her death, but her body was never found. She was his third wife. He was convicted of murder-for-hire for the death of his second wife. His first wife died of a gunshot wound, but it was ruled a suicide.
Angela Smith was last seen on Nov. 13, 1989. For nearly two decades, she has been presumed dead at the hands of her husband, Joey Smith. Her body was not located before her husband's death in 2000. The mystery still haunts everyone involved, especially her mother. She still holds out hope someone will come forward and say where Angela's body is buried.
"It's been 20 years that I have not been able to put my child to rest," said Patricia Floyd. "It just takes one phone call one person to step up and say, 'I know what happened to her' and that's what I'm hoping for."
For family members, the words Angela told them regarding her husband continue to haunt them.
"She said to me, 'I want you to know that if anything ever happens to me, I want you to know that Joey did it,'" said Suzanne Reed, Angela's sister. "Straight, just said it just like that."
"He said she would be pushing up daisies and we would never find her and that's exactly what happened," Floyd said.
Another person very close to the case is Detective Paul Venable with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. He investigated Smith's disappearance from the beginning.
"I spent so much time and effort, you know, investigating this on behalf of the sheriff's office," Venable said. "So, I'd love to see some closure to this as well."
The case is arguably one of the most fascinating to date. Joey Smith's second wife, Shelia, was murdered by Albert Lavalais. He worked as a farmhand for Smith. Shelia Smith was killed in 1985 and Joey Smith was convicted of the murder-for-hire in 1995.
For his role, Lavalais received a life sentence at Angola. He was 19 when the murder occurred. He was originally given the death penalty, but Angela's mother asked for that sentence to be commuted to life in the hopes Lavalais would someday reveal where he hid Angela's body.
In the late 80s, Joey Smith dated a Ville Platte woman who was found shot to death. It was ruled a suicide.
Anyone with information about Angela's disappearance is asked to call police at 225-389-5000.
