MICHELLE PARKER -33 yo - Orlando FL

Live coverage of search: http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Orlando-police-conduct-search-in-Michelle-Parker-case/-/1637132/10955200/-/qq3qwx/-/index.html

Orlando police conduct search in Michelle Parker case
Officer look in area near Mall at Millenia
Published On: Apr 17 2012 01:43:30 PM EDT
Updated On: Apr 17 2012 01:56:53 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando police on Tuesday are searching an area near the Mall at Millenia in connection with the disappearance of Michelle Parker, who was last seen in November.

Police said skeletal remains have been uncovered, but it's not known if they're connected to Parker.

The search is taking place near the NorthBridge apartments on Millenia Boulevard.

Video from Local 6 helicopter Sky 6 showed authorities digging in a wooded area near a lake. The search area was cordoned off by police tape.

Orlando police would not comment about the search or what prompted it.

Parker, 34, disappeared on Nov. 17, 2011 -- the same day an episode of "The People's Court" aired.

Parker appeared on the episode with her 40-year-old ex-fiance Dale Smith, who is considered a suspect in Parker's disappearance.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Orlando-police-conduct-search-in-Michelle-Parker-case/-/1637132/10955200/-/qq3qwx/-/index.html

Bianca Prieto @BiancaMPrieto
Officials say skeletal remains are that of a male. #breakingnews
1:11 PM - 17 Apr 12

Police find skeletal remains near Mall at Millenia - Police say they found man's remains
Published On: Apr 17 2012 01:43:30 PM EDT
Updated On: Apr 17 2012 02:20:28 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando police on Tuesday uncovered the skeletal remains of a man near the Mall at Millenia.

The search is taking place near the NorthBridge apartments on Millenia Boulevard.

Video from Local 6 helicopter Sky 6 showed authorities digging in a wooded area near a lake. The search area was cordoned off by police tape.

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Police-find-skeletal-remains-near-Mall-at-Millenia/-/1637132/10955200/-/u3tlfx/-/index.html

Search For Parker Continues 6 Months Later
Family Believes Truth Will Come Out

POSTED: 5:20 pm EDT May 17, 2012
UPDATED: 6:00 pm EDT May 17, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. -- It's been six months since an Orlando mother disappeared after dropping off her children to their father, and there's still no word on what happened to her.

Parker's mother is the one who seems to be in closest touch with detectives, and she said Wednesday night she got a call from an investigator who is still actively working the case.

There are no solid leads yet, but the family staunchly believes the truth will come out someday.

What happened to Parker remains a mystery. She was last seen Nov. 17 as she dropped off her twin 4-year-olds to their father, Dale Smith Jr.

Smith was once called a prime suspect, but he has not been arrested and retains full custody of their children.

"I think he had something to do with it or knows about, or he would have said something. He hasn't even looked for her," said Brad Parker, Michelle Parker's father.

Parker's father and stepmother believe Smith and possibly a few others know what happened to Michelle Parker.

The family still wears T-shirts printed with Michelle Parker's missing person flier wherever they go. Brad Parker said his heartache is as fresh as it was in November.

"Michelle is my little girl, and I'm not going to give up until I find her," Brad Parker said.

Michelle Parker's mother, Yvonne Stewart, said she was too emotional Thursday to talk on camera. But over the phone, she said, "I would love the people that know what happened to her to call Crimeline, to tell us where she is so we can have some closure. I don't even care if anyone is ever accused of a crime."

Stewart said as the months pass, she no longer believes that Parker will one day walk through her door, but she is hopeful the truth of what happened to her daughter will eventually come out.

Brad Parker still hopes his daughter will come home alive.

"We have not found her body yet, and I'm not giving up," Brad Parker said.

Parker's cellphone was found in a Belle Isle Lake in December, and Orlando police said they've gotten more than 700 tips on the case called in to Crimeline, but the six-month anniversary will pass without any new answers.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/31078999/detail.html#ixzz1vEqclSLR

Missing Orlando mother Michelle Parker has "dream team" take a second look at case

May 24, 2012
Orlando, Florida - It's been an incredibly difficult journey for Yvonne Stewart.

She is the mother of missing Orlando mom, Michelle Parker, who
disappeared last November after an episode of The People's Court where
the 34-year-old appeared during a dispute over an engagement ring.

So far, the case has grown cold. Until now.

There is now a "dream team" of sorts taking a second look at the case. Orlando Police call it a "fresh approach."
The team of 45 people met at FDLE in Orlando Thursday for an hour,
talking about Michelle's disappearance. At that forum, there were
experts from all walks of life - detectives, attorneys and crime lab
technicians, to name a few.

Michelle's mother was sobbing, wracked with both grief and anger.
She was shaking and crying as she addressed the room, "My frustration
lies in the fact that I'm a mother, this is my firstborn child and I
don't know where she is, and I don't know who did it for sure."

It was a mother's tearful plea for her daughter's safe return, knowing the truth and fearing the worst

She begged, "If there's anybody out there who has any idea where Michelle might be, Please call crime line."

That number is 1-800-423-TIPS.

"They're looking for any way to move the case forward," said longtime
homicide Detective Michael Bailey from the Pinellas County Sheriff's
Office.

He knows all about being on a panel like this. Detective Bailey has been a part of several forums just like these.

Detective Bailey said, "It's a major doing to put one of these
together, to get everyone together at the same time, to present this.
I'm sure this a major priority for them over there, so more than likely
trying to bring this together. And, you want to pull all the stops
out."
So far, Orlando detectives have recovered Michelle's phone and her car, but nothing else.

Now, they're focus is her fiance, Dale Smith, Jr., the prime suspect in the case, and the father of her twins.

Chief Paul Rooney from Orlando Police said, "It makes it difficult
because all we're trying to do is connect the dots. And there's just a
few more dots to connect to resolve this."

Detective Bailey says, "It's all part of thinking outside the box."

He says it's worth it to be on forums like this one, knowing that
other experts may shed light on something that could be the one clue
they need.

"When you have very limited information or limited evidence, it's a very good thing to do," said Detective Bailey.


Detective Bailey has served on forums as far away as Philadelphia. He
says it is a good way to not only solve cases, but make contacts with
law enforcement all over the world.

Meanwhile, the team in Orlando plans to meet again in the future.
It is wonderful news for Michelle's mother who just wants her daughter
found.

If you know where Michelle Parker is, please call 1-800-423-TIPS.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/256540/19/Missing-Orlando-mother-Michelle-Parker-has-dream-team-take-a-second-look-at-case

Grandparents rights bill based on Michelle Parker case

Last Updated: Friday, December 07, 2012, 8:31 PM

ORLANDO --A new bill in the Florida House that would give grandparents more rights in Florida is based on the Michelle Parker case.

The bill is sponsored by FL Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St.Petersburg, FL Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Niceville and FL Rep. John Tobia R-Brevard County.

The bill, HB 19, would give grandparents the right to petition the courts for visitation under certain circumstances, and also rights for great-grandparents.

The bill stems from the case of missing Orlando woman Michelle Parker. She disappeared last year. Parker's children were put in the care of their father, Parker's ex-fiance Dale Smith Jr. Smith is a suspect in Parker's disappearance. Parkers' family also claims they have not been able to see the missing woman's children.

The bill does not have a companion measure in the Florida Senate yet.

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/12/7/grandparents_rights_.html

Michelle Parker's twins spotted at SunRail station in Maitland, relatives say
The sighting prompted Brad and Gayle Parker, Michelle's father and stepmother, to revive a request for visitation — a request they said was denied.

By Kevin P. Connolly, Staff Writer
8:03 a.m. EDT, July 11, 2014

The twins of missing Orlando woman Michelle Parker were spotted this week at the SunRail station in Maitland, relatives told the media today.

The sighting prompted Brad and Gayle Parker, Michelle's father and stepmother, to revive a request for visitation — a request they said was denied.

Parker, a mother of three, vanished in November 2011 after dropping off her young twins with her ex-fiancé, Dale Smith, the only suspect in her disappearance.

He has not been charged.

Smith has custody of the 6-year-old twins — Trey, also known as Dale III, and Taylor — and is living Tennessee, they said.

Pictures: Orange County Jail mug shots

Smith and the twins were seen at the train station on Monday.

"We gratefully found out from a supporter this week that our grandkids, Michelle's twins, were actually spotted in Orlando at a Florida Sunrail station in Maitland,'' an email from Brad and Gayle Parker said.

Parker's oldest child from a previous relationship moved out of state to live with his father shortly after her disappearance.

That boy is now 14 and is living in Pennsylvania, the Parkers said.

They said it's not fair that the siblings have been separated.

"Innocent children were ripped and KEPT apart for NOTHING they did to deserve it," the Parkers said.

They also released images of the twins and Smith presumably taken on Monday.

The afternoon she vanished, Parker and Smith appeared on a prerecorded episode of "The People's Court," in which the couple argued over a lost engagement ring.

Court records show a history of domestic violence between the two, including an incident that alleged Smith broke Parker's car window while he was holding their infant daughter.

Family, friends and strangers aided police in the search for Parker for more than a month after she vanished from southeast Orlando.

Police cobbled together a rough timeline of Parker's activities on Nov. 17 2011, the day she went missing.

Surveillance video captured Parker in her Hummer SUV at a drive-through window ordering food shortly before she dropped off her two youngest children.

She then drove to Smith's condo on South Semoran Boulevard and was never seen again.

Parker, a Winter Park High School graduate, was scheduled to work the night of her disappearance at a bartending job at The Barn in Sanford.

Police found her SUV abandoned at an apartment complex just west of the Mall at Millenia a few days later.

Divers searching for clues found Parker's iPhone under water near a Belle Isle bridge a few weeks after her disappearance.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/sunrail/os-michelle-parker-twins-sunrail-20140711,0,5749962.story

Michelle Parker case: Lawsuit against suspect to proceed

By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
September 24, 2014 12:17 PM

The lawsuit brought by Michelle Parker's family against her ex-fiancé Dale Wayne Smith, the main suspect in her disappearance, will go forward, after a judge Wednesday denied his requests to dismiss the suit, or delay it for a year.

Parker, 33, disappeared Nov. 17, 2011, the same day the couple's appearance on a pre-taped episode of "The People's Court" aired. They were on the small-claims-court show to settle a dispute over a missing engagement ring.

Months of searching failed to find Parker. Police have named Smith, the father of Parker's two youngest children and the last person known to have seen her, as the prime suspect in her disappearance, but he has not been charged.

Her family filed a wrongful death suit against Smith last year, though her body has not been found. The lawsuit claims Smith "was negligent or otherwise committed a wrongful act" that caused Parker to die.

In court Wednesday, Smith's attorney Thomas Sadaka, of NeJame Law, asked Circuit Judge John Marshall Kest to throw out the suit for a second time since its filing, arguing it remains too vague as to Smith's role in her death.

lRelated Michelle Parker's twins spotted at SunRail station in Maitland, relatives say
SUNRAIL
Michelle Parker's twins spotted at SunRail station in Maitland, relatives say
SEE ALL RELATED
8

Sadaka called the lawsuit "woefully inadequate," but the judge disagreed: "It alleges a duty, it alleges a breach of duty, it alleges causation and negligence," Kest said.

Sadaka next asked the judge to halt the suit for at least a year. Citing Smith's role as a suspect in the continuing investigation of Parker's disappearance, Sadaka argued his client would risk incriminating himself if he is deposed for the suit.

The Parker family's lawyer, John Dill of Morgan & Morgan, countered that there is no reason to expect a year or more would make a difference. Parker has been missing for almost three years, and Smith remains free, Dill noted.

"Nothing has changed," he argued. "Nothing has changed since the last time we were here. We want to move forward."

Kest denied the delay, which means the family can begin gathering evidence. After the hearing, Dill told reporters he expects a fight over deposing Smith, who lives in Tennessee with the former couple's young twins.

Parker's family attended, some wearing "Missing Michelle Parker" shirts bearing her photo. Afterward, her mother, Yvonne Stewart, expressed hope the lawsuit will bring answers to questions they've had since Parker disappeared.

"We're going to fight this all the way to the end... we're going to see this thing through," Stewart said.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-michelle-parker-lawsuit-dale-smith-20140924-story.html

Michelle Parker still missing three years after disappearance
Parker missing since Nov. 17, 2011

Published 10:16 AM EST Nov 17, 2014
By Catherine Mejia

GENEVA, Fla. —Monday marked three years since a local mother disappeared.

Michelle Parker’s family gathered over the weekend to remember their loved one from Geneva. They said they will not give up searching for and praying for Parker, who has been missing since Nov. 17, 2011.

Parker’s family is currently pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against her twins’ father, Dale Smith.

Smith claimed Parker’s family has failed to provide any evidence that Parker is dead.

While her vehicle and cellphone were found, there has been no trace of Parker despite extensive searches.

On the day of Parker’s disappearance, she and Smith appeared on a taped episode of “The People’s Court.”

http://www.wesh.com/news/michelle-parker-still-missing-three-years-after-disappearance/29770808