Mother, Son Disappear on Road Trip
Vanished after getting lost in Olympia.
Police have uncovered new clues to the mysterious disappearance of a mother and son last seen this weekend on a road trip to visit family in Olympia, Washington. Shantina Smiley, 29, and her 8-year-old son, Azriel, drove on I-5 Saturday in a borrowed minivan; Saturday night, Smiley called her fiancé to say she was lost in Olympia. No one has seen them since. On Sunday, the minivan was found abandoned in Budd Inlet, part of Puget Sound. Investigators have partially traced the movements of the mom and son: On Saturday night, they went to a market and then a diner, where an employee says Smiley forgot her purchase (a corndog) and fell in the parking lot. Surveillance video shows she later tried to use a payphone at another store. Ten minutes after that, she knocked on the home of a West Olympia resident, who says she seemed upset and lost. He let Smiley use the phone. After that, the trail runs cold. Search and rescue scoured the shoreline and woods nearby, but found nothing.
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