Ex-fiancé arrested 15 years after disappearance

On October 14, 2026, Dale Smith Jr., the former fiancé of Michelle Parker, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. This arrest is connected to the disappearance and presumed death of Parker, who vanished in November 2011. Her remains have not yet been discovered.

Smith, who had been considered a suspect for years, was apprehended early Wednesday morning. Parker was 33 years old at the time of her disappearance. Her case garnered widespread attention partly because an episode of The People's Court, featuring a dispute between Parker and Smith over an engagement ring, aired on the same day she went missing.