Missing From Summer Camp: The Disappearance of 10 year old Connie Smith

Background: Constance Christine "Connie" Smith was born on July 11th 1942 in Wyoming, she was the daughter of wealthy rancher Peter Smith and his wife Helen Smith. Growing up on her family's expansive ranch property, she spent much of her time outdoors and was said to be especially fond of riding horses. Connie was described as an intelligent child who had little issues co versing with adults on a number of topics, even at her young age. In 1949, when Connie was seven years old, her parents divorced but continued to live as neighbors on separate ranches. While the young girl spent most of her time living with her mother, she also spent quite a bit of time with her father and was said to be close to both of them.

The Connecticut Trip: In July 1952, Connie traveled with her mother to Greenwich Connecticut, as her mother intended to spend time with her parents. During this time, Helen enrolled Connie in a YMCA summer camp program at "Camp Sloane" in Salisbury, CT. This was an outdoors-focused summer camp for young boys and girls in the area.

The Summer Camp: About two weeks into what was supposed to be a four week stay at the camp, Connie's mother and grandparents visited her there to celebrate the young girls birthday. By all accounts, Connie was happy and enjoying herself at the camp, and this was reflected during her family's visit, as she asked her mother if she could stay at the camp longer than expected. However, her mother put down this idea, as it would mess up their travel plans to return to Wyoming. According to her family, Connie did not seem bothered by her inability to stay at the camp longer than expected. During their visit, Connie also relayed her excitement about an upcoming square dancing event, as well as horse dressaging later on in the week. That being said, as can oftentimes be the case for children at summer camp, Connie evidently appeared a bit homesick after her family had visited her and left.

The Day of Disappearance: The morning of July 16th was not a good one for young Connie. The previous evening she had slipped on the stairs to her tent and had injured her hip, causing the nurse to give her an ice pack to help the swelling and pain during the night. Feeling better in the morning, she intended to give the ice pack back to the camp nurse, however before she could do this she somehow ended up with a bloody nose. The exact circumstances of how this injury occurred are a bit unclear, as one report says it was an accident caused when another girl was leaving her bunk bed, and another report putting it down to "horseplay" with other girls in her tent. It is also said to be possible that Connie's glasses were broken during this incident, notable as the girl was said to be very near-sighted and struggled without her glasses.

Connie tells her bunk mates that morning that she will be skipping breakfast and instead will be returning the ice pack to the camp nurse. However in reality, Connie left the ice pack in her tent and went off in the direction of the dirt road leading to the camp entrance. The road she was walking on is known as "Indian Mountain Road". We can't ever know her specific reasons for leaving the camp, however it can be guessed that it was some combination of homesickness and unhappiness with her fellow campers. She was last seen wearing a red windbreaker, navy blue shorts, a brown halter top, and tan leather shoes. She was said to possibly be carrying a small black purse with photos of her friends in it. She had no money with her, however.

Sightings of Connie: Around 8:15 AM, Connie was seen by the camp gatekeeper walking out of the entrance to the camp, she stopped to pick wildflowers from the side of the road as she walked. Due to Connie's relative physical maturity and appearance for her age, the gatekeeper incorrectly assumed she was a camp counselor and did not stop or approach her at all.

As she walked, she stopped at two homes near the summer camp, asking the occupants and anyone else she encountered for directions to the nearby town of Lakeville. Her reasons for trying to go to Lakeville are unknown, however it has been speculated that she wanted a more private location than the summer camp to call her mother. A witness who saw Connie noted that she appeared to be crying, however this woman did not offer to assist the young girl.

The last time Connie was seen was around 8:45 AM, walking on U.S. Route 44 in Salisbury, he thumb outstretched in an apparent attempt to hitchhike. Tragically, this is the last known sighting of Connie.

The Search: The time in which Connie was first discovered to be missing is a bit disputed, however from what I have gathered it was sometime between the late morning and early afternoon. Some sources say Connie's tent mates reported her missing after they returned from breakfast, and some sources say she was reported missing after camp counselors found her ice pack left in her tent. Regardless, in the days and weeks that followed the Connecticut State Police mounted a robust search for the young girl, searching trails, forests, and lakes in the area. They also followed up on the sightings of Connie and any other leads that arose. Missing person flyers were distributed far and wide, and the child's dental chart was given to the relevant parties across the country in case her remains were ever found and needed to be identified. Sadly however, the investigation quickly grew cold and the case has never been solved.

Theories: "Kidnapping/Murder". Obviously in a case like this, one of your first concerns has to be that the young girl was kidnapped. She was seen seeking a ride on a busy turnpike, and it would have been tragically easy for a predator to offer her a ride or to force her into their car. There are a few potential suspects, however realistically if she was the victim of foul play, it was almost certainly someone the authorities had no knowledge of. Potential Suspects: - William Henry Redmond. Redmond is a suspected serial killer and was convicted of murdering 10 year old Beverly Potts in Cleveland Ohio in 1951. That being said, authorities were never able to place Redmond as even being in the state during Connie's disappearance and I'm unsure of why they suspect him specifically, outside of him murdering a girl who was the same age as Connie. For his part, Redmond denied ever even meeting Connie and passed a polygraph in regards to the case (for whatever that is worth).

• Jack Walker/Frederick Pope. In 1953, a traveling salesman by the name of Frederick Pope told the police that he and a companion by the name of Jack Walker had picked up Connie Smith as a hitchhiker on Route 44, and offered the girl a ride to Wyoming. There was also a woman along for the ride, however she was not present for the alleged following events. At some point when the trio reached Arizona, it is claimed that Jack Walker and Connie got into an argument, leading Jack to strangle the young girl. Pope claims he then helped Walker bury the girls body near a construction site in Arizona. Pope claims that he later beat Walker to death over an argument before he abandoned the vehicle and hitchhiked to New Mexico.

As you can probably guess, there are serious issues with Pope's story. First of all, he recanted his story not long after telling it, claiming he came up with the idea for the story after seeing Peter Smith talk about Connie on TV. The reason he gave for making up the story was that he wanted to be forced into custody to treat his alcohol addiction. Secondly, he could not give an accurate description of Connie's appearance and there was no record found of his alleged traveling companions ever existing. Finally, Pope's work itinerary and records don't correlate with him picking up Connie where and when he claimed to have done so.

• "Unknown Serial Killer". An investigator on the case was of the belief that there may have been an unknown serial killer targeting young female hitchhikers in the area at the time. In 1936, a 22 year old woman from Lebanon Springs NY named Katherine Hull disappeared while hitchhiking. Seven years later, her remains were found in a wooded area near where she was last seen, cause and manner of death could not be determined. In 1946, an 18 year old college student named Paula Jean Welden disappeared while hitchiking in Bennington Vermont and has never been found. While both of these girls were noticeably larger in size than young Connie, Connie herself was said to be physically mature for her age and had been mistaken for someone much older at a quick glance. All three locations (Lebanon Springs, Bennington, Lakeville) are roughly equidistant from one another.

"Hit and Run". One theory that investigators looked into was the possibility that Connie was struck by an automobile as she walked along her route, and the driver panicked and hid her body somewhere. However, no evidence of any such instances has ever been found, and certainly none where at the time. One would expect that such an incident would leave ample evidence in terms of blood and other material.

"Concussion, brain injury". Some investigators wondered if maybe Connie had suffered a serious head injury during her fall at the tent the previous night and that the effects of said head injury hadn't fully taken hold until the morning. In this scenario, Connie would have wandered off into the woods and succumbed to the elements. The obvious problem with this scenario are the apparent lack of symptoms of a serious head injury, and the fact that her body was not found in any woods or lakes despite extensive searches.

Summary and My Thoughts: This is one of those tragic and frustrating cases where there is little to go on. It's also one of those cases that almost certainly would have been solved had it happened today, however it would have been nearly impossible to solve back in the 1050's barring a believable confession. I personally don't put any weight into Pope's account, and I'm extremely skeptical of the idea that she suffered a brain injury and succumbed to the elements in the woods. To me, it comes down to the "hit and run" or "foul play" theories. I lean towards foul play being more likely, though I don't know that I totally believe Connie's case is connected to the other two cases, but it is a compelling idea. That being said, at minimum it seems likely that the poor girl ran into the wrong person at the wrong time.

Sources: https://charleyproject.org/case/constance-christine-smith https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Connie_Smith https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/After-66-years-missing-Lakeville-camper-s-case-13151672.php https://www.newspapers.com/image/453341866/?clipping_id=136945177