JEFFREY LYNN SMITH (Female) 16 yo (1985) - Hot Springs AR

Arkansas Police Resume Search for Girl Missing 25 Years

by David Lohr

-- Authorities in Arkansas have resumed the search for a teenage girl who disappeared 25 years ago this month, police said.



Jeffrey Lynn Smith, 16, was last seen on Dec. 4, 1985, walking home from school with her boyfriend. What happened to her during that walk remains a mystery. Police say she never made it to her Hot Springs home.

Since reopening the search Tuesday, authorities have been focusing on three wooded areas in Hot Springs. Authorities are not saying what prompted the new searches, but they did say the areas they are examining are based on interviews they conducted with a potential suspect. Investigators have not said who that person is.

"We just want to be real careful what we put out," Hot Springs Police Sgt. Jeff Michau told Northwest Arkansas Newspapers.

At the time of Jeffrey Lynn's disappearance, authorities suspected she had run away from home, but later considered the possibility that she had been abducted.

The only clue that has surfaced in the case is a ring Jeffrey had received as a gift from her mother. The gold ring, which was adorned with an opal birthstone, turned up in a local pawn shop not long after she disappeared.

Jeffrey Lynn's older sister, Lisa Murray, was 19 when her sister vanished. Over the years she has reached out to several missing-person organizations, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and Project Jason, for assistance in the case. Both groups have made great strides to raise awareness of Jeffrey Lynn's disappearance.

"Older cases like Jeffrey Lynn's are often overlooked by the media and other avenues of support and awareness," Kelly Jolkowski, president and founder of Project Jason, told AOL News. "The pain for families like Lisa's is no less than any other in this situation. It's never too late for answers and justice."

In addition to reaching out to missing-person organizations, Murray has also attempted, unsuccessfully, to reach out to former President Bill Clinton.

"My mother had worked for his mother as her maid and babysitter while she was pregnant with Jeffrey Lynn," Murray said in a statement to ArkansasMatters.com. "She named my sister after his stepfather, Jeffrey Dwire, because my mother admired that family that much. Mrs. Virginia Dwire also served as my mother's anesthesiologist during the delivery."

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