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Orlando police arrested Dale Smith Jr. on a second-degree murder charge in Michelle Parker's 2011 disappearance.
WESH, FOX 35 Orlando, WFTV, and ClickOrlando reported that on Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, Orlando police arrested Dale Smith Jr., Parker's former fiance, on a second-degree murder charge. Parker was 33 when she was last seen Nov. 17, 2011, the day an episode of "The People's Court" about an engagement-ring dispute was on television. Her remains have not been found.
By Crime Talk Network Staff Writer ·
Wednesday's arrest is the first charge in a case that sat open for nearly 15 years. A second-degree murder charge is the filing. It is not a finding that Smith killed Parker, and police say her remains have not been recovered. State Attorney Monique Worrell said the charge could still change.
WESH, WFTV, and ClickOrlando reported that Orlando police arrested Dale Smith Jr. on Wednesday morning, Oct. 14, 2026, and charged him with second-degree murder in the Nov. 17, 2011 disappearance of Michelle Parker, his former fiance. WFTV reported the department's Fugitive Unit and SWAT team made the arrest. ClickOrlando reported Chief Eric Smith said Dale Smith was surprised to be arrested at his workplace. FOX 35 Orlando reported he had denied being involved. WESH reported he had been named a person of interest and that no one was arrested until Wednesday.
WFTV reported investigators believe Smith was the last known person to see or hear from Parker, and that her remains have not been found. Police said they will keep working to locate her. FOX 35 Orlando reported a 2023 search of property belonging to Dale Smith Sr., focused on an area under a concrete slab, found no remains. A charge in a case with no recovered body is still a charge. It does not establish how Parker died or where she is.
Chief Eric Smith said the arrest followed a fresh look at the file. "Over the past year, we expanded our investigative team looking into this case, and took a fresh, focused look at all of the evidence," he said, according to WESH and ClickOrlando. Those stations reported he said investigators reexamined testimony and conflicting statements and used digital forensics on additional evidence. WESH reported a detective said, "Over the years, he gave different answers to the same questions," and, "We are able to better interpret that evidence today than we were able to do back in 2011." WESH reported the Orlando Police Department retested evidence with technology aimed at vehicles, electronic devices, and other materials. WFTV reported the newer review covered phones, computers, and vehicles. WESH reported State Attorney Monique Worrell said Smith is charged with second-degree murder and that the charges could escalate depending on the evidence. ClickOrlando reported she said prosecutors are starting with second-degree murder and that the charge could escalate as the evidence allows.
The disappearance is what made the case a national story. FOX 35 Orlando reported Parker, then 33 and a mother of three, was last seen Nov. 17, 2011, after dropping off her 3-year-old twins. WESH reported she was last known to be alive while dropping the twins at Smith's condo near Goldenrod Road and Lee Vista Boulevard. ClickOrlando reported that location as the Carter Glen Condominiums in the Lee Vista area. ClickOrlando reported that the same day, Parker appeared with Smith on an episode of "The People's Court" in a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring. WESH described that broadcast as a taped episode about a lost engagement ring. WESH reported her Hummer was found Nov. 18, 2011, in an Orlando parking lot, and that sheriff's divers found her iPhone under an Orange County bridge in December 2011. FOX 35 Orlando reported a black Hummer was found abandoned near Walden Circle and that her phone was later recovered from a lake south of Orlando. The stations are describing the same two recoveries. Neither recovery is the arrest.
Smith has been charged. He has not been convicted. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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