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On The Case With Paula Zahn S29E04
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Did your heart sink when you watched the surveillance tape?
00:08Absolutely.
00:09It was unnerving that somebody could disappear in thin air.
00:14You see her just walk into the darkness.
00:17She's never seen again.
00:23I let out a huge scream and I began to cry.
00:26It was unimaginable.
00:28It was overwhelming.
00:29Definitely a life-changing manner.
00:32It makes the hairs on your neck stand up.
00:41We were already way behind the clock on this.
00:44If we move fast enough, we may be able to actually save her.
00:49Detectives brought tracking dogs.
00:51They led us right to two muddy footprints.
00:54Someone was here waiting for the perfect moment to abduct her.
00:58She definitely got in a vehicle.
01:02She was forcefully taken.
01:05How hard was it to maintain any hope that she was still alive?
01:11Very difficult.
01:12My heart sank.
01:14This individual.
01:15He's a monster.
01:42He's a monster.
01:44And she was now.
01:48And that made the troubling disappearance of Ariel Smith a tragedy that hit home for everyone.
01:54the pressure on investigators to solve the case was intense and in their hearts they were all
02:01too aware that each moment that passed without finding ariel might be her last
02:13january 13 2022 it was just before dawn on a bitterly cold thursday morning
02:22when the northumberland county sheriff's office received an unusual call a convenience store
02:30clerk was on the line trying to get help with a terrifying situation she explained that when
02:38she arrived for her morning shift she found her friend's car idling out front but 28 year old ariel
02:46smith was nowhere in sight the morning store clerk reports to the store and notices ariel's car there
02:55in the parking lot running and unlocked and that's about 4 30 in the morning what went through your
03:01mind this cannot be normal the clerk told dispatchers that although ariel worked at the convenience store
03:09there was no reason for her car to be there her shift had ended at 9 00 pm the night
03:17before
03:20it has simply been sitting there for six and a half hours yes sitting there unlocked the store clerk
03:26stated that it didn't appear anything was rummaged through were any of ariel's personal belongings found
03:33inside the car her id wallet with some credit cards money was there anything out of place
03:41either near the car or inside the store nothing the store was closed as normal with the alarm set
03:48lights off the front door locked secured
03:53police raced to the scene when they arrived they were just as puzzled as the clerk was
04:00in a small town cases like this were almost unheard of and to make matters worse some of the
04:08investigators actually knew ariel what went through your mind when you heard that it was ariel who was
04:15missing it was definitely strange i've been knowing her since i was probably 12 13 years old and i
04:22actually worked with ariel's father for a short period of time so it made me take things a little more
04:27personal it was definitely a life-changing matter but despite those deep ties investigators knew they
04:36had to keep their emotions in check their job was to focus on the evidence and to find out what
04:44happened
04:44to ariel as quickly as possible what were some of the first steps you took in investigating this case
04:51i had them showed me the recording tape of the night before we went to the video and just scrolled
04:58through from nine o'clock right before closing
05:04the tension in the room was thick as detective jones watched the surveillance footage
05:10he sensed that at any second he could see something terrible instead he saw ariel going through the steps of
05:18a normal closing including walking outside and starting her car why do you think ariel started
05:26her car that night before she went back into the store to close up it was a cold night i
05:31do the same
05:31thing we will start our car at night if we're going somewhere early in the morning if it's cold outside
05:38but police really zeroed in on what happened next a honda accord pulled up next to ariel's car and she
05:48walked towards it there was a gray four-door car that had pulled up and she made her way to
05:54the passenger
05:55side of the second car and it appeared she knew the person she got in the car with them detectives
06:02wondered if the car would suddenly take off with ariel inside but once again what took place defied
06:11their expectations the car stays at store probably 15 20 minutes and she gets out and goes back in the
06:18store and what did it look like as they parted ways she was happy waved to him and went along
06:25with
06:25her business nothing out of the ordinary nothing suspicious it was a pretty obvious to you she was
06:30going through her normal nighttime routine absolutely everything looked like what a night shift clerk
06:37would do at a convenience stores to close up as ariel went through those final steps with her car running
06:44out front no other customers arrived she was inside the store for maybe five ten minutes and then you see
06:53her with a big bag of trash exit the store was the gray car still there when she came out
07:01of the store
07:02she walked to the door to set the alarm and lock it the gray car was leaving the parking lot
07:07and left and
07:08went down the highway ariel walked along the front of the store as the gray car pulled off she goes
07:15towards
07:16the left side of the building where the dumpster is and then what happens the building has surveillance
07:23on every corner of the building except for where the dumpster is as she's going toward the dumpster
07:28she just goes out of sight of the last camera the investigators patiently waited to see her return
07:36from the side of the store you see her turn a corner and just walk into the darkness she just
07:44disappears
07:48it was just like the movies
07:52detectives kept watching the video but it was like a still frame you just never see her come back
08:00she's never seen again
08:04what was it like for you to see that portion of the footage ominous
08:11it makes the hairs on your neck stand up
08:15did your heart sink when you simply watched her disappear on the surveillance tape absolutely it was
08:25a very unnerving feeling that somebody could just disappear in thin air
08:40investigators watched ariel's walk to the dumpster over and over looking for a subtle clue they may have
08:48missed but there was nothing where did the investigation go from there
08:55the first bit of the investigation was really comprised of boots on the ground police work and
09:03just see if we had anything in their hearts police were confident that something disturbing had happened
09:09to ariel after she walked into the darkness but without any proof they felt almost as lost
09:17this doesn't happen in our small town
09:20you traced her cell phone to see where it might have gone after she simply disappeared what did you
09:27find out that the last ping on the phone was at the store the phone is either off or the
09:34battery has
09:35died now we're becoming more suspicious did you fear the worst at that point i started to yes
09:43something serious had taken place
09:48i knew it wasn't good
09:51in fact everyone on the case was certain they were now in a race against time and ariel smith's life
10:00might
10:01hang in the balance
10:1628 year old ariel smith had vanished just after closing time at the convenience store where she worked
10:23when police shared the news with her sister lydia she was crushed i let out a huge scream and i
10:31began to cry
10:32it was kind of like i don't know the unimaginable at that point the details about what police saw in
10:40the surveillance video troubled lydia but it was the way they had found ariel's car that terrified her
10:48she always drove herself wherever she went for the car to be left there i knew something was wrong
10:58lydia was worried but she wasn't about to sit quietly and wait for help to arrive
11:06what exactly did you do i instantly called michael parker detective in northumberland and i wanted to
11:13know what i needed to do he told us to you know go to the sheriff's office and file a
11:18missing person
11:18report lydia also mobilized those closest to ariel including her cousin adriel i didn't think anything
11:27bad happened until i tried to call her when her phone was dead then i just went numb i know
11:34one thing
11:34about art she never let her phone die for loved ones it was impossible to imagine that someone as strong
11:47and independent as ariel could be missing what was she like she was charismatic energetic very sassy
11:57full of life lots of attitude it was kind of her way or no way she walked to the beat
12:03of her own drum
12:04she would keep me laughing and she was very outgoing and outspoken ariel's job at the convenience store
12:11was just a means to an end she had plans for a future in nursing was she in a happy
12:18period of her
12:20life she was in a good space she was in the process of transitioning to health care she had interviews
12:26to
12:26work at a nursing home she had that job lined up for her she was made for stuff like that
12:31that's where her
12:36joy was investigators knew that all of those dreams were now in jeopardy
12:44did ariel have any enemies who you were aware of no ma'am none at all and immediately just told
12:50me that
12:50we need to be on alert we have someone that's taking advantage of women in our area is scary
12:57law enforcement from around the state descended on the small town bringing all of their resources
13:03with them detectives i wanted canine search done so virginia state police and game wardens both brought
13:12tracking dogs the dogs tried to follow ariel's last steps we were able to get a scent from an article
13:21that
13:21was left in her car that dog immediately went to the edge of the field just north of the store
13:30investigators and the canines worked their way across the field and quickly made a critical discovery
13:39it led us right to two muddy footprints there
13:44were there any signs of a struggle no signs of struggle no signs of drag marks the shoe impressions
13:51were clearly fresh and had been left by someone traveling from the roadway behind the store on a
13:58direct path to the dumpster you were convinced those were linked to the case yes ma'am seeing them was
14:06chilling because it let me know someone was here waiting for her those shoe impressions look like
14:16they would be the only ones police found in the otherwise hardened dirt but the canine team continued
14:24to track ariel scent the dog took us to approximately 75 yards from those two footprints to another set of
14:33footprints on the edge of the ditch the ditch near the road was where the dogs lost track of ariel
14:41set
14:42did that suggest to you that whoever abducted ariel might have left a car there it did we saw some
14:48tire
14:49tracks there when you stood in that area where you believed the abductor had parked his vehicle could
14:57see the door yes ma'am and how far away would you say that was maybe 80 yards so very
15:05much in view
15:07it was obvious that someone was here waiting for the perfect moment to abduct her
15:14a disturbing picture was quickly coming into focus
15:21what do you think what do you think happened when ariel approached the dumpster
15:28he made his way from his vehicle to the dumpster and took her by force to his vehicle she definitely
15:36got in a vehicle very alarming
15:41the evidence left police convinced that ariel smith hadn't simply disappeared
15:49she was abducted and with each second that passed her life was in greater danger
15:57you were already way behind the clock on this did you acutely feel a race against time very much so
16:06it was overwhelming i felt that weight on my shoulders if we move fast enough we may be able to
16:11actually
16:11save her
16:28more than 24 hours after 28 year old ariel smith had vanished
16:35the small town of heathsville virginia was still trapped under a cloud of terror
16:42you lived in the community how fearful was everyone there was a huge crowd of people reaching out to
16:49the sheriff's office wanting to help in any way they can people were creating search parties
16:55they wanted to know where she was they wanted law enforcement out working stress level was going up
17:04the next day based on the evidence investigators believed that ariel's abductor was a local who knew
17:11she would be alone and vulnerable that night this was planned out they knew what time closing was
17:19they knew it was dark they knew that she dumped the trash knew that there was no security cameras back
17:24there would have been pretty easy to hide behind the dumpster without anybody seeing you yes ma'am
17:30plenty of room to hide and not be seen but so far identifying a potential suspect had been
17:37challenging where did the investigation go from there we spun tires for the first 24 hours
17:46just trying to run down whoever we could
17:53one of the people they had to find was obvious detectives desperately wanted to speak with
18:01the driver of the gray car caught on video in front of the convenience store
18:07how important was the vehicle that she was last seen in to the investigation very important we
18:14wanted to know first of all who was driving the car and when we caught up with this person we
18:20wanted to know everything that they talked about what did she say we had a list of questions and
18:26identifying that driver wouldn't take very long detective todd jones suddenly realized he recognized
18:34the car we do live in a small rural area we know 90 of the people that come and go
18:40and there was a
18:41gentleman named sean i arrested him numerous times detective jones thought the timing of when the gray
18:48car was there was more than a coincidence you see this man drive away did you suspect that he came
19:01back
19:01and possibly had abducted her out of view of the surveillance cameras i did and that's why i immediately
19:08called him and uh had him come into the office for me to interview him why did he say he
19:14visited
19:14ariel that night he just told me they were friends and they hung out from time to time and he
19:19just stopped
19:19by got a beer and was just hanging out in the car where did he say he went after the
19:25gas station he
19:26went to visit a friend and then he went home detective jones had interviewed sean numerous times
19:34and he had a good feel for when the young man was lying and when he was telling the truth
19:41did you believe him i did he was genuine and came across in a truthful manner
19:49but on a case this important investigators could rely on just gut instincts they executed a search warrant on
19:59sean's phone and his gps data backed up his story detective smith checked his phone records and
20:08the towers they pinged off everything checked out far as his location of his cell phone
20:15it was clear that sean and the gray car had nothing to do with ariel's disappearance
20:26but as one door closed a new one opened lydia smith contacted police with a tip about a man who
20:35her
20:35sister said had been harassing her at the store a couple of weeks prior she had said that someone made
20:42her uncomfortable ariel's friends added additional details they said the customer had continued his
20:52unwanted behavior in the days leading up to her abduction he was bothering her he was inappropriate
21:01had sort of been a little stalkerish at times
21:07police were now eager to track the customer down but all they had was the description of him that
21:13ariel had given to her friends she described him as a smaller hispanic male what did you do we found
21:21surveillance footage that showed us a video of them having interaction at their register
21:27on the video footage we saw him come in that evening and buy beer
21:31police wondered if that same man had come back later that night hid his car on the road behind the
21:38store and waited for the right moment to strike now they hope they could identify him and find him
21:47in time to save ariel smith
22:04investigators trying to find ariel smith had identified a potential suspect in her abduction
22:12a man she said who had been stalking her at work police discovered surveillance video of him in the
22:21store but they had no idea who he was so we released photographs of him in the vehicle he was
22:28driving on
22:29social media to try to get some input several people recognized the man and gave detectives a variety
22:37of leads on where he might be how did you track him down we received some tips and we were
22:43able to
22:44figure out his name we immediately sent out detectives to try to gain information
22:52investigators obtained the man's address and staked out his home waiting for him to arrive
22:59initially i respond to his residence he wasn't even on scene at all shortly after he he did appear
23:07the man seemed surprised to see the officers then investigators told him why they were there
23:14how did he explain his repeated visits to the convenience store he said he didn't have any
23:20issues with her she was someone he had conversation with but at no point would he ever had any thoughts
23:26of hurting her did he admit to having a romantic interest in her no did he ever threaten her to
23:32your
23:32knowledge no ma'am in fact the man denied ever saying anything inappropriate to ariel investigators were
23:42skeptical but the man was cooperative and maintained that he had nothing to hide he gave us permission
23:50to search the property and we did and we did not find ariel the man also had a solid alibi
23:58for the night
23:59of ariel's disappearance despite you know not finding any evidence did you still think there was a shot
24:06he could have been involved no we were back to square one with no clue of where she went we
24:13had nothing
24:19still the confusion made the next step in the investigation clear sheriff beecham knew it was time
24:27to call in the fbi and special agent andrew manson was the man he reached out to
24:35how did the fbi first get involved in this case this is exactly how law enforcement in this country
24:41should work when they need help they reach out he said hey we have a missing person we think she
24:47was abducted i got in the car started driving down there and on the way down there i started
24:52talking to my bosses about the resources i need within hours a crap team of experts were in
25:00heathsville and hard at work on the case at that point we really started moving into overdrive we had
25:10profilers from our behavioral analysis unit cell phone folks people that do videos crisis management
25:17swat people evidence people a u.s attorney in case we needed to get a search warrant
25:28and their diligence paid off the fbi immediately received data from heathsville's lone cell phone
25:37tower through a process known as the tower dump how does a tower dump work every time a phone or
25:44any
25:44device hits a cellular tower there's a record of it and you'll know that a particular device hit
25:51a sector from this direction at this particular time the records allowed law enforcement to establish
25:59the location of every cell phone close to the convenience store during the window of time leading
26:05up to ariel's abduction what happened once the fbi performed a cell phone dump through incredible
26:18police work the special agent that ran the phone records was able to determine a single phone number
26:24that fit the fact pattern of the crime a single phone that was in the area before during and just
26:33after ariel disappeared they found one cell phone number that came in the area of the store before
26:41she closed and left within minutes after her leaving the camera view
26:51it would take time to trace the number to its owner but experts already had the route the phone traveled
26:59and a review of footage recorded along that path provided investigators with a critical new lead
27:06reviewing the surveillance video you see a vehicle dark colored suv
27:14we could tell it was a blue suv the blue suv was on route 360 in front of the store
27:22and made a left which would then drive by the store on the same side that the dumpster was on
27:29prior to having that phone being isolated through this incredible technology
27:37had anybody ever noticed that suv before no
27:43cell phone experts were able to provide officers with a map of where the driver went after he left the
27:50area we sent uh detective parker and an fbi special agent to go to where the phone stopped and they
27:57found a dark colored dodge durango parked in the driveway
28:05staring out into the night investigators believe they were sitting outside the home of ariel's abductor
28:14and they prepare for the dangerous task ahead of them confronting a man who may be holding the young woman
28:24captive inside
28:39a trail of incriminating cell phone data and surveillance clips had led police to the doorstep
28:48on the man they believed to be responsible for the abduction of ariel smith
28:56each piece of evidence had fallen into place transforming a jumbled puzzle into a single
29:04unmistakable unmistakable image who did the cell phone evidence point to as a suspect tyrone samuel
29:15it was a name and rap sheet that sheriff beecham knew all too well why was he familiar to you
29:23i
29:24remember him being arrested multiple times i remember his face clear as day did your heart
29:31sink because you knew he was capable of violence yes but this was the biggest break we were going
29:38to have in this case this was what we were waiting for the moment the search warrants on samuel's home
29:46and vehicle were issued law enforcement sprang into action we contacted the virginia state police
29:53and requested their tactical team and we hit the house the team handcuffed their suspect
30:03and launched a desperate search for ariel samuel was arrested but ariel wasn't there
30:14was there any evidence of a crime having been committed in the house yes one of the detectives
30:20on scene noticed a red brown stain on a wall and a carpet i was able to take a sample
30:28of that stain
30:30submit a test and found that it was human blood
30:35ultimately could you link that blood to ariel yes ma'am
30:39it was linked to ariel smith
30:45the blood evidence was a crushing blow for everyone on the case what was discovered
30:52indicated she might already be dead we were all still holding out hope that we would find her in
31:00there and then when you don't find her your stomach kind of goes into your throat and then
31:05when you see blood on the wall it kind of drops out the bottom were any of ariel's personal belongings
31:11found in the home there was evidence we collected we found a brassiere there was a gold cross that
31:16looked like it had been on a necklace but none that we were able to forensically trace back to her
31:24the search of tyrone samuel's truck told more of the grim story what did you learn from processing his suv
31:33the
31:34front passenger seat appeared to be cleaned with some sort of chemical and a cadaver dog hit on the
31:42passenger seat when you die your body immediately starts to break down and that's what the dogs pick up on
31:51this is our guy now we just got to make sure that we get all the evidence
31:53he's going to be done investigators were now convinced that tyrone samuel had taken ariel's life
32:06but getting a murder conviction would require more detective michael parker ariel's friend hoped that
32:15could get those details out of samuel in the interrogation room what was your strategy going
32:23into your interview with tyrone this was such a big case i was actually shocked that they asked me to
32:30to conduct it i was a little nervous at the moment i did not have a plan at all but
32:37as soon as he entered
32:38the room detective parker began picking up clues to use against samuel what was the first thing you
32:46noticed when he sat down for the interview just right off the jump he had severe scratches
32:55asked him did he have any more injuries police instructed the prime suspect to remove the blanket
33:02he was wrapped in and saw unmistakable bite marks all over his body
33:11did they look like defensive wounds to you they looked like wounds from somebody that was fighting
33:16for their life how did he explain those away his story was he was riding a go-kart and he
33:25had a minor
33:26accident where he ran into a tree i told him there's no way that those kind of injuries can come
33:32from a
33:32go-kart find another store to give us because that's not going to work for us at all but the
33:37hardened
33:38criminals stuck to a story does that look like a bite mark yeah that's not a bite mark it is
33:44a bite
33:45she was fighting was she fighting for her life did she lose her life nothing happened
33:53samuel did admit he knew ariel had a talk with her at a party just a few weeks before she
33:59was abducted
34:01but police had evidence that proved he had seen the young woman more recently than that
34:08what was his reaction when you confronted him with the fact that his cell phone movement showed you
34:14exactly where he was the night she was abducted that it was this vehicle trouble and that he was on
34:21side
34:21of the road waiting for his car to cool down from being overheated and that was how he tried to
34:27explain his
34:27movements that night yes i had to keep myself composed it was hard knowing that he was lying
34:33and he didn't care at all it was heartbreaking
34:38what was it like to sit across from him knowing that he was the one responsible for ariel's death tough
34:45but again i had made a promise to the community and the family as well to finish the job
34:51and detective parker wasn't alone every member of the team was just as determined to bring ariel home
35:00based on the phone records i pulled up a mapping system and created six areas that we suspected she
35:06might be i called every local law enforcement agency and said if you have people available
35:11we need them we need boots on the ground and on january 18th 2022 10 days after ariel's disappearance
35:22their massive effort paid off in the worst way possible
35:31there was an abandoned shallow well on the property that appeared it had been used
35:37for household garbage for years so we're talking about a depth of about eight feet it was there
35:47amidst the debris that ariel's lifeless body was discovered she was found nude head down and then
35:56covered up with leaves and sticks and anything that he could find to disguise her being there
36:05it was sickening to see someone's body upside down in a well with objects thrown on top of her like
36:12she
36:12was trash investigators carefully removed ariel from the well and transported her body to the medical
36:21examiner's office what was determined at autopsy to be the cause of her death ultimately the cause of
36:29death was determined to be strangulation
36:35and the report revealed additional evidence that sealed samuel's fate
36:41what we found was his dna evidence that she had been sexually assaulted by tyrone samuel
36:49in all your years of law enforcement had you ever encountered
36:53this kind of depravity and callous disregard for life this would have to be the worst in my career
37:00this was very brutal i think that's why it took me a while to figure out what to say to
37:06the family
37:14lydia smith can still remember the incredible swing of emotion she felt when she was called to the
37:21sheriff's office they walked us into a room and i don't know if it's optimism or delusion but at that
37:31moment i thought i was walking down that hallway and my sister was going to be in there once we
37:36got
37:36in it was shattering lydia just made this awful scream but just to hear the pain in her voice was
37:46devastating and i still hear it every day it was very tough to know what this animal did to her
37:52sister
37:59in november of 2023 tyrone samuel pled guilty to abduction by force and first-degree murder
38:09ariel's loved ones were on board with the plea deal
38:12although the 52 year old samuel will only serve 27 years he gave up the ability to appeal
38:19or challenge his conviction in any way
38:28was there any evidence that he targeted ariel or was this a crime of opportunity seeing the surveillance
38:36video of him we know that he left his house drove by the gas station where he lay in wait
38:44that's premeditated he had a plan some believe the short meeting ariel had had with samuel at that
38:51new year's eve party triggered the attack a lot of those guys they have an issue with power knowing her
38:59i'm pretty sure turned him down put him in his place and he didn't like that do you believe an
39:07obsession
39:08grew out of that one encounter yes ma'am a deathly obsession that ultimately scarred a tight-knit community
39:19what kind of toll did this case take on you i shed a lot of tears there was a lot
39:26of nights waking up
39:26out of my sleep from seeing her body being pulled out that well it changed my life dramatically
39:40still the details of ariel's death are not the ones her family dwells on they have chosen to put the
39:48horror behind them and focus on how she lived
39:54it's a beautiful picture of her on your shirt thank you when you look at that picture do you
40:01think of happier times i have my moments sometimes i can look at it and smile and sometimes i get
40:08sad
40:08she was more than a cousin she was my sister she was my friend really took a lot out of
40:15me out of all of us
40:19what do you hope ariel's legacy will be the good memories always outweigh the bad ones she was a breath
40:27of fresh air a ray of sunshine she would remind me to show and spread as much love as you
40:33can
40:34when you can live each moment like it's your last one and most of all make sure you tell your
40:40family
40:40and your friends that you love them investigators are proud of the way that state local and federal
40:50agencies came together to bring ariel smith's killer to justice they see it as a shining example of how
40:59law enforcement should work kudos to all on a job well done i'm paula zon please join us again next
41:07time
41:08when we're back on the case on the next on the case just how violent was her death she had
41:17been
41:17severely beaten this was a monster of a person that committed this offense there were a lot of young
41:23women at that time being murdered any case can be solved it's not a matter of if it's a matter
41:29of when
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