Missing
Mary Magdalene Smith
Smith, approximately 2017
Date and time person was reported missing : 03/04/2017
Missing location (approx) :
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
Black
Age at the time of disappearance: 61 years old
Height / Weight : 4'11 - 5'1, unknown weight
Description, clothing, jewerly and more : A white t-shirt, a black hooded sweatshirt, black wind pants, and gray Champion sneakers with lime green trim.
Medical conditions : Smith suffers from schizophrenia, a heart condition and other medical problems. She is classified as disabled.
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: African-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Smith has a surgical scar on her chest, and pins inserted in her right wrist. Seventy percent of her body is scarred from previous burns, which required skin grafts. She is supposed to wear prescription eyeglasses, but doesn't. Her ears are pierced.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Smith was last seen in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on March 4, 2017. On March 1, she was at her sister's house when she got in an argument and left, saying she was going to the Motel 6 in the 3800 block of north Patterson Avenue. (It is now called the Rodeway Inn.) She took two trash bags full of clothes with her.
At the motel, Smith paid in advance to rent a room until March 9. One of the employees thought he saw her on the motel balcony with three men. She disappeared on March 4, and has never been heard from again. Two months passed before her family reported her missing.
Smith's family believes she may have met with foul play, possibly a robbery/homicide. Her relatives found a red bookbag in a vacant lot on north Patterson Avenue which they believed belonged to Smith. It was about a mile from the motel where she was last seen. They also noted a smell in the area, but an extensive search of the lot turned up no indication of Smith's whereabouts.
Since her disappearance, Smith hasn't collected her disability checks or used her food stamps. The last disability check, for $600, was cashed in March; Smith was carrying the money when she disappeared. Although police can find no hard evidence she came to harm, her family fears for her safety. Her case remains unsolved.
Other information and links : ncy
Winston-Salem Police Department
336-773-7706
September 2021 updates and sources
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are not known. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2�5% of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
Several organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and imAge at the time of disappearance: s of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Fox 8 News
The Winston-Salem Journal
Missing, Unidentified, and Victims
October 12, 2004. March 6, 2018; .
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
