OLYMPIA, Wash. - Thurston County authorities have resumed their search for a Silverdale woman and her 8-year-old son who disappeared over the weekend.
Search crews have brough in scent dogs to the area where the missing woman's abandoned vehicle was found Sunday morning in Olympia. The dogs were able to get a scent from a personal item of the woman and will scour the area. Dive teams will also search the nearby waterways.
Police say 29-year-old Shantina Smiley borrowed her fiancee's minivan on Saturday for a trip to Castle Rock for a reunion with her stepfather. She had her 8-year-old son, Azriel Carver, with her.
The woman apparently called her fiancee late Saturday night saying she was lost in Olympia. No one has heard from her since. Late Sunday morning the vehicle was found partially submerged in Budd Inlet.
It doesn't make much sense to Smiley's fiancee, Robert Simmons.
"I miss her more than you can imagine," said Simmons. "The whole family is hurting, so if you're out there, please help find them."
Some neighbors found the van Sunday morning, down a dead end dirt road north of Olympia. It was at the bottom of a hill, in the water. According to The Olympian, neighbors who found the van say the back hatch and side door were both open. No one was inside.
"We have no idea what happened," said Thurston County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Mealy. "She could have been the victim of a crime, she could have wandered off."
Neither Smiley nor her son would have had any reason to come to the area. Search and rescue crews searched the shoreline and scoured the nearby wooded terrain looking for clues, but found nothing of importance.
Simmons says Shantina did contact a family member at about 10 p.m. Saturday night to say she had been in an accident, but was okay.
Police says Shantina is 5'9" tall, with dark hair, and 140 pounds. Simmons says she has numerous tattoos, including one on her neck, and both wrists. She also had a couple lightning bolts on her back. Azriel is 4'2", 100 pounds, with a blonde mohawk.
The Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help with any information on Shantina and her son. Contact the Sheriff’s Office at 360-786-5530 or 5500.
