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Saturday, October 25, 2014

Sage Smith Continues to be Missing, Possible New Lead?

Over the past few years I have written about Sage Smith, a young transgendered woman of color who disappeared in Charlottesville, Virginia



about two years ago when she was on her way to meet someone she met online from Minnesota who came to see her in Charlottesville. She disappeared that day and the investigation by police, which included interviewing the man from Minnesota as a person of interest, went nowhere and the man quickly left the area.

At that time another woman, Morgan Harrington, a Virginia Tech student who came to Charlottesville to see a concert was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered. Eventually DNA evidence tied her to another case in Fairfax, Virginia where a woman was sexually assaulted and the assailant was tied to DNA evidence to the same perpetrator.

Recently, a U.Va. student, Hannah Graham,  was abducted and was last seen in the company of Jesse Matthew, a Charlottesville man whose DNA has been matched with the DNA in the Fairfax, Virginia case and the Morgan Harrington case.



I would note that Mr. Matthew has not been convicted of anything, but after he was named as a person of interest and asked to come to the Charlottesville Police Department, he invoked his right not to incriminate himself, asked for legal representation and promptly fled Charlottesville only to be apprehended in Galveston, Texas.

Mr. Matthew has been alleged to have raped two other women, one at Liberty University and one at Christopher Newport University when he attended both of those schools.

My question is, Why is not Matthew being considered a suspect in the disappearance of Sage Smith? While her body has never been found, thereby making it impossible to easily establish a DNA link, I question if the police are investigating other possible avenues of evidence that might link him to her disappearance.

I continue to pray and hope for justice for Sage Smith and the peace that resolution of her disappearance and fate will bring the people who know and love Sage deserve.