Going West: True Crime - Kelsey Smith // 192

Episode Date: April 16, 2022

In 2007, an 18-year-old woman headed to Target to buy her boyfriend an anniversary present. But when she didn’t return home that evening, her family joined police in the search for her and her car. When crucial surveillance footage was uncovered the following day, it showed someone stalking and abducting her. This is the story of Kelsey Smith. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES https://www.newspapers.com/image/704731292/?terms=Kelsey%20smith&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/819659349/?terms=Kelsey%20smith&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/425516112/?terms=Kelsey%20smith&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/704731298/?terms=Kelsey%20smith&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/704730992/?terms=Kelsey%20smith&match=1 https://www.newspapers.com/image/425516396/?terms=Kelsey%20smith&match=1 http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/police_courts_fire/article_4ea96239-02b9-5aef-b927-51816cb5911c.html https://www.kmbc.com/article/keith-carnes-released-from-prison/39691309 https://thecinemaholic.com/where-are-kelsey-smiths-parents-now/ https://thecinemaholic.com/kelsey-smith-murder-where-is-edwin-hall-now/ https://patch.com/michigan/plymouth-mi/bp--the-kelsey-smith-story-a-story-of-heartache-hope https://kelseysarmy.org/#about-us Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on True Crime fans? I'm your host Teeeth and I'm your host Daphne and you're listening to Going West. Today's case was recommended to us a little while back by one of our lovely listeners and Facebook discussion group members, Shay. So thank you, Shay, for bringing us today's case. I was legit getting like hot and shaky while I was researching this one because it is so intense and scary. Yeah, I definitely agree. I mean, any case with damning surveillance footage is just terrifying all around. Like the fact that we can see this happen after

and police can use it to pick the case apart and in turn solve this case, and that's exactly what happened in today's story. So, can't wait to get into it with you guys. Yeah, so thank you, everybody for tuning in. Thank you, Genshe. Really appreciate you guys coming to going west on this fine Friday and in advance hope you have a good weekend.

Alright guys, without further ado this is episode 192 of going west, so let's get into it. A young woman kidnapped and murdered it was a case that gripped the Metro. Kelsey Smith was abducted from a target parking lot in broad daylight. Tonight, a guilty plea in her murder. I miss my cows. I miss her laughter. Her smile, her cloudness. I miss my baby girl. It's pretty clear that this was a stalking type case. He parked apparently in the same parking lot

and knew where she was going to be. Followed her into the store, followed her out of the store, and then shoved her into her own car. We also have to be very happy that we do have the target cameras. A lot of these stores have good cameras, and I'm very happy about that. The only thing is the consequences of this are very hurtful. Young woman was killed. I'm so, so sorry for what I'm saying.

We'll never move on. We just keep moving forward. Kelsey Ann Smith was born on May 3, 1989 to parents Missy and Greg in Kansas, alongside her three sisters and younger brother, Stephanie who went by Stevie, Lindsay, Dakota, or Cody, and Zach. Kelsey was the middle child and grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, which is the second largest city in the state of Kansas, after Wichita, with a population of around 200,000 people, and it's within the Kansas City metropolitan area, so it's right by the Missouri border.

And according to Google, it's a great place to live due to its low crime rate, good schools, and charming tree line downtown. They are Kelsey sprouted into a wonderful child who was thoughtful above all else. She was always making sure that you know things were equal between she and her other siblings and she was also known to be very protective of her younger brother Zach who was six years younger than her and she always wanted to take care of him. And not only did she have a huge heart but she was also known to be incredibly fun,

she had a fantastic sense of humor, and she lived her life to the fullest. And she was really that friend that would present you with like a balloon bouquet at school on your birthday, and she even once drove over two hours away to participate in a charity run, so she just showed kindness and support to everybody. And speaking of school, Kelsey began attending her local public high school called Shawnee Mission West in the fall of 2003. And that's where she really started trying new things and just figuring out where she was going to go in life and who she was going to be. Like she was in a writer's workshop, she was taking an art class, singing in the school's choir, acting in the theater and

Running track. Man, she was doing a lot. Lots of stuff like she was all over the place. I didn't do anything in high school I know she was like definitely a go-getter Seemed like she just wanted to like really make something out of herself, you know what I mean? But you know above all of the many things that she did in high school her favorite activity was Participating in her school's marching band as a section leader. And she was so in love with the marching band that when it was time to head off to college, she chose Kansas State University, located in Manhattan, Kansas, just a two hour drive west of Overland Park because of their amazing marching band.

And in December of 2014, this marching band was actually awarded the Sudler Trophy for Best College Marching Band in the nation. So it was a really big deal. So when Kelsey graduated from high school on May 24th, 2007, she was really looking forward to beginning her college career that coming fall. And she planned on majoring in pre-veterinary medicine. Yeah, so she wanted to be a vet, which makes sense because she had, you know,

like I said, such a big heart, she was so caring. Right. So before she could get to college, Kelsey was prepared to enjoy her summer first with her friends and her boyfriend of nearly six months, who was John Beersmith. Kelsey and John had a great relationship, and like Daphne highlighted,

Kelsey was extremely thoughtful and loving. So when their six months was finally approaching that June, newly 18-year-old Kelsey Smith, headed out to get him a gift to celebrate this anniversary. You know, a lot of people celebrate like their six month dating, I think we did. I think we even celebrate our one one month like we really did. Yeah, we probably did. So yeah, I mean that's she she was that kind of person.

She wanted to celebrate that. They were going to go on a date. It was just going to be this really fun Saturday night. Exactly. So on Saturday, June 2nd, 2007, so just nine days after graduating from high school, Kelsey drove to a target store in Overland Park, Kansas, to do a little bit of shopping. And the specific store that she went to, or the specific target that she went to, was on 97th Street right next to the Oak Park Mall, where there are a ton of other stores and such, so a very populated area. And we should mention that she was doing this shopping in the evening around 7 p.m. But the sun set at 8.39 p.m. that night in Overland Park so it was

still very light outside when she did this shopping. So while she was in Target, Kelsey made a call on her cell phone to her mom to get some advice on wrapping the gift. And then they said they loved each other and they would see each other when they both got home since her mom was at work. So Kelsey had this date with her boyfriend John that evening where she planned to give him this gift and celebrate their six month anniversary, but Kelsey didn't come home by this 730 date time.

So John arrived at the house and waited with her parents where they all just kind of sat dumbfounded at where she was. They tried calling her cell phone, of course, but they didn't receive any answer, which was bizarre and just extremely unlike her. Her sister Lindsay then left with John to head for that kind of mall and target area, just really hoping that they'd find her stranded with a dead phone. Maybe her phone died and something happened with her car because she had kind of an older car.

Her car was like 20 years old. So who knows? Yeah, and this is really unlike her. She would not just not show up to this date. It's important to her. Yeah, and she had left specifically 40 minutes before the state was to occur to just run to the store to do this quick errand and come right home.

So they had gone or John and Lindsay had gone to target. And meanwhile, Kelsey's parents, Greg and Missy just waited at home hoping that they could catch her that way. But when John and Lindsay arrived at target, they didn't see Kelsey or her car. Very suspicious. Yeah, which would bring them to their next thought that maybe Kelsey got into a car accident. And by 8.30pm, her father Greg, who was actually a police officer, was calling his co-workers and 911 dispatchers to see if anyone could confirm that there had been an accident or maybe

she'd been pulled over for some reason. But none of the officers had any clue where she was. firm that there had been an accident or maybe she'd been pulled over for some reason. But none of the officers had any clue where she was. Yeah, so with that, police and Kelsey's entire family and her boyfriend were all driving around Overland Park trying to find any sign of Kelsey or her car. And after John and Lindsay decided to explore the Oak Park Mall parking lot, behind Target at around 11pm, they found something very strange. It was Kelsey's 1987 Buick Regal. Kelsey wasn't in her car, but the present that she had purchased for her boyfriend John, as well as her purse, and her wallet were inside the car.

The parking lot didn't have any other cars parked near hers since them all was closed by this time, but luckily police arrived to the scene quickly and treated her car like a potential crime scene, taking all necessary precautions and getting the car properly forensically analyzed in case this did turn out to be an unfortunate situation. And we are so thankful that they actually did that because we don't see that very often. Right, because, you know, obviously this was not a good sign. Her things are in her car, it's late at night, and Kelsey is nowhere to be seen. It being 2007, police knew Target had surveillance cameras, both inside and outside of their stores,

and they could see them. And since that's where she was shopping that evening, that's where they headed to start their investigation. The trouble was that target was closed at that point. Nobody was there. So they had to wait on this footage, which I can't imagine how frustrating that was knowing that those cameras saw something and they could not access them until the next day. Nothing you could do. them until the next day. Nothing you could do.

So in the meantime, they questioned Kelsey's family and cleared suspicion of her parents right away because they had to question the people closest to Kelsey, even though her parents didn't do anything for her. They always do. You have to. And her family understood that. So once they cleared her actual family, her boyfriend, John kind of came into question as a potential person of interest.

Considering they had spent the past few days together and they were supposed to go out that evening. They brought him in for questioning that night as well for a couple hours. And he was very genuine. And he had a solid alibi for the time that Kelsey was shopping. And then as we know, John was already at her house by 7.30 pm, ready for their date and excited to see her.

So he was out. By the time he was done being questioned, police had already reached out to local radio stations with Kelsey's description. And a few hours later by 8 a.m. on Sunday, June 3rd, 2007, Kelsey's description and photo were emailed in facts to various media outlets and her case-continational attention. Meanwhile, John and Kelsey's family and friends were working hard to pass around missing

person's flyers and conduct a search of their own around Oberlin Park. So, that same morning, police collected the target surveillance footage from the 40 indoor cameras and the outdoor cameras as quickly as they could, and upon viewing that footage, they received some disturbing answers. Law enforcement watched on video Kelsey parking her car in the target parking lot at 6.54pm. She got out of her car and walked into the store alone, but just about a minute later, a 1970s model Chevrolet pickup truck pulls into the same parking aisle and a man gets out. He too walks into the store and the cameras throughout showed Kelsey shopping, talking to her mom and checking out before she exits. In this man was

seen once again as Kelsey was leaving Target at 7.07 pm. She walks out and can be seen pretty clearly on surveillance footage from above and we did post photos of this on our socials. And we posted a couple videos to you can actually see an emotion. Right and she's wearing a pink tank top and black shorts and when Kelsey reaches her car this young man runs towards her and appears to force her into her own car and then the car drives off so you know we just talked about Naomi Irian's case very recently. We're really similar. It's weirdly similar here. So they didn't speak during her shopping trip,

and she actually didn't speak to anyone during her time in there except for the clerk who checked her out. So it doesn't seem like she knew this person at all. Two hours later at 9.17 PM, so before the mall closed, Kelsey's car is seen entering the parking lot and someone gets out. And although we weren't able to find the outdoor footage, I tried really hard, it doesn't seem like it's been released.

Detectives say that the image was grainy and you couldn't seem very much at all, and the only way that they were even able to determine that that was Kelsey's car was because they knew that it was in that spot. They couldn't determine who got out of the vehicle and where they went, so sadly this particular footage didn't provide much at all, but they did have all the other footage which was immensely helpful at putting the puzzle pieces together. And by the way, all of this stuff was uncovered within 24 hours of her disappearance. But it took 10 officers watching the videos frame by frame to uncover that this young man

had followed her out. Because it didn't immediately seem obvious. Especially the outdoor cameras, which again were very grainy, particularly in the area that Kelsey's car was, you know was parked, which was covered in sunlight. So it was very overexposed. Yeah, so this was a huge, huge task for police, because this is, first of all, it's 2007. So video quality is absolute shit.

Yeah, by great. And then they have to scour through hours and hours. I mean, I guess, I guess it wouldn't, they wouldn't have to go to hours and hours. Yeah, it was about 15 minutes of footage, but it did take them hours and hours to look through it because there's 40 freaking cameras at least and I think that's only for Inside there's 40 cameras So there's more than 40 cameras and they have to look at every single frame to see is there anybody suspicious in this frame Is there anybody suspicious in this frame? So you as you just told the story that's what was determined to have happened

After hours of searching. But at first, they just see her going through the frames and they're like, okay, she's shopping and she leaves and she gets in her car and nothing happens. What, what occurred here? Yeah. But then they had to break it down and ultimately discovered this young man popping up and they notice, oh my God, he's like following her. How did we not see this before? So and I'll get into how they were able to see then that he abducted her because it is very fuzzy, but that's what they determined happened. Right. So the way they determined that it seemed someone came up

behind her was because there's this very fast movement in the corner of the frame. And her car is way off to the side in the video. It is not in clear view. But you can see her like figure leaving target and walking towards her car. So you know that's her. But it looks like somebody just from the way the frame moves in that area. It looks like someone sprinted up behind her as she was going around toward driver's side door and then 10 seconds later her car drives off.

So this is kind of like a rushing abduction like like he rushes towards her within seconds he's in her car and the car's gone. And this is because it's so grainy they and in this moment, they can't be positive. That's what happening, but they're like, they all, one of the detectives described it as, when they all noticed it, there was just, you could hear a pin drop in the room because everybody was just shocked.

Wow. So I'm gonna try to post that footage. The only place I saw it was on this show called Cino Evil, which was a great source for information other than newspapers and online articles that we were able to find. But that show showed this footage, and I haven't been able to find it anywhere else. So I'm going to try to find it on YouTube so you guys can see. But yeah, you can barely see anything happen, but you just see this very rapid movement

and knowing that that is what's happening, like just sent chills down my spine. Yeah, same. So once investigators noticed this terrifying detail, they felt like Kelsey had been abducted and that's when they came back and uncovered the other footage of this young man. And that includes when this guy got to target as we mentioned in his dark pickup truck and then later, an older model dark Chevrolet pickup truck is seen leaving the target parking lot within minutes of Kelsey's car being dropped off.

So this made it even more obvious that this guy had done something to Kelsey and then just dropped her car off back at the parking lot. Yeah, and then probably walked then, or not probably this is what happened. He walked from her car in the mall parking lot. And he walked to Target to get his car that he had parked hours earlier before 7 pm. Right. So now they knew what to release to the public alongside Kelsey's information. The surveillance image of the young man and the basic description of his truck. Of course, they wondered if Kelsey's family knew who he was, but they became concerned immediately when none of them recognized this man.

The other frustrating thing in this case is that although they had surveillance footage, they had no idea where she was taken out of that parking lot, and there were no witnesses coming forward saying that they had seen Kelsey or her car leave. Yeah, so they just, they're like, we know this guy did something to her, but we don't know who this guy is. We don't have enough footage of his truck to get a plate number, and we know something happened to her. And no idea where they had gone. Right. No clue what direction they headed.

And more than 50 detectives and law enforcement officers were involved in this case. And by day two of Kelsey being missing, important leads were pouring in. One lead in particular caught investigators' eyes that came in on June 6, so four days after Kelsey's disappearance and potential abduction occurred. And it was a woman who believed the man in the surveillance

images was her neighbor. She had seen his photo and originally believed it looked like him, but she didn't think that her neighbor could be involved in something, and actually she and her husband later stated that they laughed about it when they noticed the similarities just completely not believing that it could be him knowing that the neighbor in question was married and the father of a four-year-old boy. So they're seeing this picture and saying, oh yeah, that kind of looks like our neighbor, L.O.L., you know?

Not actually believing, wait, that is literally our neighbor. But after the description of the truck was released, they felt confident that the man in the footage really was their neighbor, a 26 year old man named Edwin Hall. And it wasn't just these neighbors who felt this way, but also a friend and co-workers of his who agreed that it was definitely him. So Edwin Hall often went by the name Jack, and that's what his neighbors called him as well. He lived in Olof, Kansas, which is just outside of Overland Park, where this all occurred.

Police took this tip seriously, and by the end of that same day, which again was June 6, 2007, police arrived at Edwin's house, only to find that he, his wife and their son, were presently packing up their vehicle to leave for a so-called vacation. Interesting timing. Very interesting. But, they caught him just in time before he was able to leave, and 26-year-old Edwin Jack Hall was arrested and taken into custody.

And for those of you who can't jump over to our socials to see the photos just yet, this guy looks just like the man in the footage. And even though the footage is slightly grainy, it's color, and he has the very same look, same nose as the person that followed Kelsey around target. It's like, it's him. Yeah, definitely.

They thought, you know, without a doubt. And although Edwin didn't have an adult criminal record, he did have a juvenile record that included assault. And more specifically, at the age of 15, Edwin had threatened his sister with a knife. But this sister is somebody that he knew or had known since he was about 7 years old when the family adopted him. So after he did this, he was returned to state custody because it really scared this family.

So they're like, yeah, we're not gonna be having any of that. There was also another incident that included assault where when Edwin was 13, he struck a boy in the head with a baseball bat. So these are really not good signs here. Not at all. And the same day that Edwin was arrested, law enforcement continued to search for Kelsey,

and this is where her cell phone really came in. But sadly, it took Verizon Wireless four days to give investigators her cell phone records. So there was this major stall in finding her because of their hesitancy, and we'll go into this a little bit more later, but there were some privacy laws in place in the state of Kansas at this time,

and it's believed that this is why they didn't just hand over the data. But police had tried to gain access to her cell phone pings the day after she disappeared, but they weren't given up until June 6th. When a Verizon tech showed police the cell tower that her phone had last pinged off of days earlier, and the tech told them to search within a mile of that spot.

And they did alongside countless volunteers. Well guess what? Within 45 minutes of receiving this information at 1.30pm. Searchers found 18-year-old Kelsey Smith's body in a wooded area in Grandview, Missouri, and it was clear that she had been murdered. Kelsey's body was found near Longview Lake in a wooded area in Grandview, Missouri. And since Overland Park is right by the Kansas, Missouri State border, this location was about 20 miles from the target. So too far away for police to have known to search there without her cell phone data,

but still relatively close. Now to say the scene of Kelsey's body was disturbing is an understatement, because when they found her, her nude body was slightly hidden under sticks and branches. An autopsy concluded that she had been raped and sodomized, and then strangled to death with her own belt, which was still around her neck when she was found. So as we can imagine, this was an unbelievable and unthinkable outcome for her family. And the only even slightly positive thing

was that Edwin was now in custody. Police had him. During Edwin's questioning with police, he admitted to being at Target that day. I mean, how could he deny it? He's literally on camera. But he mentioned that he never talked to Kelsey and he didn't do anything to her. He said he remembered seeing her in the store and thought she was cute and had nice legs, but they didn't

speak. And that comment will sound even creepier in a little while when I describe a little bit more about this. So after taking, of course, when they arrested him, they took his fingerprints, and they came back as a match to fingerprints found on the seat belt release in Kelsey's car. And Edwin Hall was arrested for the premeditated murder and aggravated kidnapping of Kelsey Smith the very next day, June 7th, 2007. With this charge, Edwin did not hold back anymore and decided to stop lying to police, admitting that he did abduct Kelsey. He followed her around the store, left before her, and waited in the parking lot.

And as she was approaching her driver's side door, he abducted her at gunpoint. So he held a gun to the back of her head and forced her into her own car. Now, although the most important person in this story is Kelsey, and we don't want to give Edwin any unneeded attention, it's good to know just how good it is that this evil and sick person is behind bars, because those two assaults that we mentioned aren't the only horrific things that he's done. Although he would later state that Kelsey was the first person that he had ever killed, investigators really don't believe that. And we're about to mention, we're not going to go into details at all, but we are about

to mention child sexual assaults, so just so everybody knows. So as we mentioned, Edwin was adopted, and this was due to the sexual abuse that he suffered as a child until the age of six by his uncle. So at age seven, when he was placed into state custody, and a woman named Carol Hall had adopted him with her husband Dawn, and brought him home to their three children,

really wanting to give this boy a better life after the horrible things that he endured. Which is amazing. She was like, this poor boy has suffered greatly, horrible things that he endured. Which is amazing. She was like this poor boy has suffered greatly and I want to help turn his life around. Yeah, exactly. And she also just wanted him to recover from his trauma, but after the severe behavioral issues that he exhibited and the incident with their daughter and hitting the boy with the baseball bat, Carolyn Don feared for their family.

So Edwin returned to the state. They did see him again in his 20s and felt that he had gotten better, he seemed calm, he had a family, and they were happy for him. But little did they know in 2004, so when Edwin was 23 years old, he was in what's described as a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl. But we're going to call a spade a spade here and say that he was raping this 14 year old girl when he was 23. And because of Kelsey's case, he was later charged with aggravated indecent liberties.

This happened in 2007, luckily. So he did end of getting charged for this. And before this happened, he had been caught numerous times for stealing things like cash and a tape recorder, and also stealing his adoptive dad's truck at the age of 12. So he's like just doing all kinds of stuff. And after being returned to the state at the age of 15, he was in and out of juvenile facilities until he turned 18. And just after that, he married his wife, Alita, but continued to cat call young women

and make them uncomfortable. And not just young women, but like teenage girls. And something really horrific, this is what I was hinting to earlier when I was talking about how he said that he thought Kelsey was cute and had nice legs. Well, guess what? He admitted that he said that he thought Kelsey was cute and had nice legs. He had great legs, yeah. Well, guess what? He admitted that he thought that Kelsey was 12 years old,

which is why he was interested in her. So this guy is like a sexual predator. Yeah, fucking pedophile. I can't, I also can't believe that he admitted that. Like, oh yeah, I actually thought she was 12. Why would you say that? Yeah, why would you tell police that? I mean, I'm glad he did, but, yeah. It just, it just lets us know that he admitted that. Like, oh yeah, I actually thought she was 12. Why would you say that? Yeah, why would you tell police that? I mean, I'm glad he did, but you.

It just lets us know who he really is. But let's talk about something real quick. Okay, so we have to talk about this man's MySpace page because, oh my God, it's disturbing. I'm sure that we all remember the first globally recognized social media website, MySpace.com. All too well.

Yeah, well, back in 2007, Edwin Hall had one too. His name was listed as Jack, though, since that's what people called him. And he titled himself as a sweet troubled soul. The way that's written in the newspaper article we read makes it seem like that was possibly his profile's URL because there's no spaces, but either way, that was somewhere on his page. Also, one his profile's URL because there's no spaces, but either way that was somewhere

on his page. Also, one his profile was his interest, which included, quote, eating small children and harming small animals. Like, what? First of all, you're disgusting. Second of all, why would you put this? Like, where people not concerned, and it doesn't sound like a joke, because the harming small animals part feel so serious in its wording. Like obviously they're both serious, but I don't know, for some reason I read the first is like eating small children, you know,

is like it could be like a funny, like, oh I'm trying to be cheeky. And it's not funny at all, that's just a weird thing to say, but then harming small animals. It's like, whoa, full stop, what? Like, it's eating small children, what does that even mean? You know?

Well, because when you think about it and then that context, you're like, oh, eating small children, nobody does that. That's stupid. That's just a silly joke. That's why I think that. But then, yeah, but then when you're like, oh, harming small animals, you're like,

that takes a turn, you're like, we will. Yeah. Because people do that. Yeah, it's, why would you, I mean, the whole sentence is a whole eating small children and harming small animals. The whole thing, not a joke, horrible thing to say, nobody should say that, and just knowing his history,

and then the fact that that's on his my space page. It's disturbing. Creepy. But back to Kelsey's case. So Kelsey Smith's strangling was described as particularly cruel and was executed in a heinous way. And based on the wounds that Edwin himself suffered, it was very clear that Kelsey had fought hard for her life, just like her family had believed that she would have.

Because this actually had come out in the papers that they were like, she wouldn't stop until her body like made her stop. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. Which is just so sad. So near her body, her pink shirt was found with bleach stains, proving that someone had attempted to destroy forensic evidence. Also it was proven that Kelsey was murdered

within two hours of being abducted, meaning at least around an hour before her car was found, while her family was out there desperately looking for her. Two days after Kelsey went missing on June 3, 2007, a couple was walking near Longview Lake, near where Kelsey's body was discarded, and they witnessed a young man exiting that wooded area holding a black duffel bag. They saw him walk to his dark colored pickup truck, which contained several wooden sticks,

just like the ones that were found on Kelsey's body three days later. So this tells us that he had visited her body afterwards to either try to get rid of evidence or try to hide her under those sticks. So Edwin's bond was set at $5 million, and a couple months later, on August 1, 2007, a grand jury in Kansas State indicted him for the murder, rape, and aggravated sodomy of Kelsey Smith. And since he was eligible for the death penalty, which he wanted to avoid, he pleaded guilty on all charges. Now the following year in September of 2008, Edwin stood in court listening to her family give statements about their beloved Kelsey, and their shared fear for Edwin's five-year-old son's future, knowing what his father had done to another human being.

And then, Edwin had the audacity to stand before them and tearfully say, I can't find the right words to say today, I'm so sorry for what I've done, that's it, that's all I can say. Kelsey's father Greg later stated that he doesn't care if the apology was sincere or not, because it doesn't change anything, it doesn't bring Kelsey back. Numerous people showed up in that courtroom

wearing light blue t-shirts that said Kelsey's army on them, just hoping for some shred of justice. Kelsey's mother, Missy, told the court, quote, "'Hall should not be able to see his child again since we cannot see ours,' which I kind of agree with. I-I-I-same. But if there were true justice, we would be able to bring Kelsey home.

The defense tried to show the court that Edwin had been abused, and this could have swayed his actions in life, stating, quote, My client had been sexually abused before the age of six, more times than you can count on your hands. Those were his blood relatives. There's no excuse for what happened to Kelsey Smith, but it is an explanation for how his life spun so terribly out of control on June 2, 2007. Well, Kelsey's mom Missy had this to say in response.

Quote, I know what it's like to grow up with alcoholic parents. I know what it's like to grow up in an abusive home. I know what it's like to grow up in a single parent household that is so poor, you receive public assistance and go without electricity. I know what it's like to be molested as a child. I know what it is like to be a victim of rape.

I know what it's like to be a teen mother, but I also know that life is about choices. When does one have to take responsibility for their own life? Good for her for basically, yeah, she fired back. Yeah, and it's like totally shut down his bullshit excuse. Yeah, it's not an excuse. I mean, I'm not going to say that what happened to him as a child was not absolutely unforgivable. No, it's horrible. Horrible, but it doesn't mean you can go do that to somebody else. So on September 16th, 2008, a judge sentenced Edwin Hall to life in prison without the possibility

of parole. And to this day, he remains incarcerated at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Hutchinson, Kansas. Now, although retrieving Kelsey's cell phone pings the day after her disappearance would not have helped find her alive, it could have helped save resources and potentially even catch Edwin in the act of hiding her body had Verizon handed over the cell phone data sooner. But because of Kansas' privacy laws, this wasn't done. So Kelsey's family pushed for a new act called the Kelsey Smith Act, which states that cell phone companies can release cell phone pings right away if the person in question is in danger.

That's so amazing. Right. This probably helped so many people. And it has. Absolutely. And this law isn't just being passed in Kansas, but in many other states. And it's even being debated within the U.S. Congress as a federal law. Love it.

Her family also launched the Kelsey Smith Foundation, also known as Kelsey's Army, and here's their mission statement. To honor and perpetuate the life of Kelsey Smith by empowering families, friends, and communities to proactively protect one of its most precious resources, namely its youth and young adults. So they are really working to help make young people and people in general more aware of life's dangers. And that's something that I love so much about having this show with you Heath, because like it makes us and our listeners more aware of the dangers of life.

And I know we all know that we're not invincible, but I think hearing stories like this just make us way more cautious. And it's not to say that Kelsey wasn't being careful in her life or that she did anything wrong because we shouldn't have to worry about walking out to our car in freaking target in daylight by ourselves. Yeah, but stories like this prove that we do sadly and Lieutenant Bruce Morton with the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office said it very well, quote, sometimes you need to be extra aware in places where you think you're safe.

Knowing that any time you put yourself in a position where you're in danger or a vulnerable position and nothing occurs, the body has the ability to get into complacency, and you have to constantly fight that complacency. You have to work to keep your complacency, and you have to constantly fight that complacency. You have to work to keep your awareness up, to notice things 360 degrees around you. Absolutely, I totally agree, but also, and not to say that this doesn't happen to men, but this disproportionately happens to women.

So it is a very scary thing and it's very real. But Heath, you and I have talked about this so many times, when we go out, I mean, you don't even like me going on a walk by myself. Oh, I hate it. Yeah, whenever you decide to go on a walk, I'm like, I'm coming with you. You don't get whatever Heath is doing.

It's amazing. I love you. He will just drop it. I love you too. He will just drop it and come with me because he doesn't want me to be alone because things can happen like that. And it's sad that men or women, like you said, more, more so women, but also men and everybody

can experience this. And it's just really sad to know that that anything can happen to us. And we really have to always watch our backs. And that's a scary fact. Yeah. So ultimately, at the end of the day, keep your fucking hands off of people. Well, yeah.

Well, fortunately, we can stop people from doing that. But we can just try to do our best to watch our own backs and try to not fall victim to something as horrible as what Kelsey did. Absolutely. So after Edwin's arrest and the founding of Kelsey's army, Greg Smith, her father, stated through tears, quote, "'I stand here today, a heartbroken father,

knowing that Kelsey's gone. The very act of living triggers memories of her. We may not be able to see her anymore this side of heaven, but Kelsey's still here making a difference. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and on Tuesday, we'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into.

I feel like, honestly, like you were saying earlier with Naomi Irianne and even with Kelsey Smith's case, like I feel like cases like this really do put into perspective what it is like being a person in this world. And I'm really glad that everybody listened today and I hope we can all kind of take something away from it. And, you know, kind of go forward with Kelsey and her hearts. And yeah, just stay safe everybody. We love you. We appreciate you so much. We're so glad that you show up every week to listen to our show

And yeah, we appreciate every single one of you guys. Yeah, and just listening to these victim stories It's it's just amazing. So thank you. Thank you so much We love having you here and he did you already say your line? Did I take away from that? I don't think so. What is my life? You say we'll have an episode for you next week. Oh, I totally did Yeah, it's like just not here. So I was just thinking about Kelsey and this horrible story. Like, this one's really sticking with me.

It's really tragic. And we gotta do our best to protect each other and to be aware and please stay safe out there guys. Yeah, and also just know that if you see something, say something and being a witness is also really important being able to watch other people's backs You know because knowing that this happened in a parking lot in broad daylight where there were so many cars around yet nobody saw it

You know it's it's really scary. Yeah, absolutely So thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Yes, and if you guys want more episodes of you know heath and Daphne Stuff patreon baby. I'm going to scream it out your face. Patreon! Head on over to p-a-t-r-e-o-n.com, patreon.com slash going west podcasts. We have over 60 bonus episodes where we discuss various stories from all around the world, still in the US, cases that we have not covered and will not cover on going west.

So go check that out if you want more. Make sure to come to CrimeCon if you want to. That's only like, oh my God, it's two weeks away. That's a few weeks away. So two weeks from now, he's gonna be in Vegas and we're excited to meet a lot of you guys, hopefully some of you show up and we can chill.

So head on over to CrimeCon.com if you wanna attend and use code GoingWest to get a discount on your tickets. All right guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. Thank you. you