KELSEY SMITH

May 3, 1989 – June 2, 2007

Missing: 6/2/07 Age: 18

 

Eighteen year old Kelsey Smith was  abducted while walking out of a Target shopping center in Overland Park, Kansas on June 2, 2007. Security cameras in the Target parking lot captured Smith being forced into her car by a man in white. Smith’s abductor, twenty-six- year-old Edwin Roy “Jack” Hall, was once a ward of the state with a substantial juvenile record for assault. Hall had no criminal record as an adult.

After three days of fighting Verizon Wireless to release Kelsey’s cell phone record, a technician pinpointed where Kelsey was based on her cell phone signal. On June 6, 2007, Kelsey’s body was found in the woods of Longview Lake in Grandview, Missouri. An autopsy of her body revealed that Kelsey died from strangulation.

On June 7, 2007, Hall was charged with premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. On August 1, 2007, Hall was indicted for rape, aggravated sodomy, and murder making him eligible for the death penalty. A month later Hall was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Kelsey lived life to the fullest and her love for her family and friends was evident in all that she did. The Kelsey Smith Foundation, Inc. was founded in July of 2007 in Kelsey's honor. This organization is dedicated to preserving Kelsey's memory and assisting in the prevention of further attacks against young people. Visit Kelsey's Army for more information.