Michelle Loree Parker
Parker, circa 2011; Parker's necklace; Parker's Hummer; Dale Smith
- Missing Since 11/17/2011
- Missing From Orlando, Florida
- Classification Endangered Missing
- Sex Female
- Race White
- Date of Birth 11/20/1978 (45)
- Age 32 years old
- Height and Weight 5'5 - 5'7, 125 - 135 pounds
- Clothing/Jewelry Description A white t-shirt, a blue Florida Gators hooded zip-up jacket, blue jeans, flip-flops, a silver-colored watch and a large cross necklace set with artificial diamonds. A photo of the necklace is posted with this case summary.
- Medical Conditions Parker has a heart condition.
- Associated Vehicle(s) Black 2007 Hummer HU3 with the Florida license plate number AWGM26 (accounted for)
- Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Parker has a burn scar on her left arm. She has the following tattoos: angel wings on her back, a butterfly on the lower right side of her abdomen and spiraling flowers extending from her hip to her underarm on her right side. Her ears are pierced and she has breast implants.
Details of Disappearance
Parker was last seen when she dropped her three-year-old twins off at the home of their father, her ex-fiance Dale Smith Jr., at Carter Glen Condominiums off Goldenrod Road in southeast Orlando, Florida at 2:30 p.m. on November 17, 2011.
She was driving a black 2007 Hummer HU3 with the Florida license plate number AWGM26. A security camera filmed her arriving at the condo and then driving away.
At 4:26 p.m. that day, Parker's brother sent her a text message asking where she was. The reply read simply "Waterford." Waterford Lakes is a neighborhood in Orlando. Her brother said she normally sent long text messages and it was uncharacteristic of her to reply with just one word; he doesn't believe Parker sent the message herself.
At 6:50 p.m., Parker's eleven-year-old son from another relationship called her sister, concerned because his mother hadn't arrived home. She didn't show up for her 7:30 p.m. shift as a bartender, and has never been heard from again.
Her cellular phone pinged in the area of Oakridge Road near Belle Isle, more than seven miles where she was last seen, at 8:00 p.m. The phone turned off there. The next day, her vehicle was located at Walden Palms Apartments in the 4700 block of Walden Circle in Orlando, with its decals removed from the windows. A photo of the car is posted with this case summary.
Three weeks after Parker's disappearance, police found her cellular phone in a lake near the Nela Bridge in Belle Isle.
Parker and Smith had taped an episode of the television show The People's Court in June 2011. They were in a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring. Parker threw the ring at him during an argument at a hotel and it fell nine stories and was lost in the hotel atrium.
During the taping she said her relationship with Smith had been troubled and he could become vindictive and abusive, particularly after he had been drinking. The judge ordered Parker and Smith to split the cost of the ring. Parker disappeared on the same day the episode aired.
A photo of Smith is posted with this case summary. He has a record of prior arrests for marijuana and battery, and was dishonorably discharged from the Marines. Parker got a restraining order against him in 2009, saying he had physically abused her and threatened to kidnap their children. The order was dismissed after a month and the couple reconciled.
After Parker's disappearance, Florida's Department of Children and Families (DCF) filed a petition to remove their children from Smith's custody because of his history of violent behavior towards women. At an emergency hearing on November 30, the judge ruled there was no cause to grant the DCF's petition, and the twins remained with Smith. He refused to take a polygraph in Parker's case and hired an attorney.
Parker's family was initially supportive of Smith, but later they publicly criticized him for not being involved in the search efforts and said they thought he was involved in her disappearance. In March 2013, they filed a wrongful death suit against him, alleging Parker died on the day she vanished "as a direct and proximate result" of Smith's "negligence."
Authorities have named him as the prime and only suspect in her case, but he maintains his innocence.
Parker's family describes her as a dedicated mother who held three jobs to support her children: in addition to bartending, she was a hairdresser and had a home tanning business. They don't believe she would have left of her own accord and abandoned her children. Her case remains unsolved and foul play is suspected.
Investigating Agency
- Orlando Police Department 407-246-3975
Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004. Last updated March 9, 2013; details of disappearance updated.