Michelle Parker

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Orlando Police Department (FL)

Missing From:

Orlando, Florida

Summary:

Michelle Parker, an Orlando mother of three (ages 11, 3, and 3), disappeared on November 17, 2011 after dropping her twin children off at their father's house. Her vehicle was found abandoned in a parking lot, but Parker was never found. Her ex-fiancé was named the only suspect in her disappearance, but was never charged.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Parker was last seen when she dropped her three-year-old twins off at the home of their father, her ex-fiancé Dale Smith Jr., at Carter Glen Condominiums off Goldenrod Road in southeast Orlando, Florida at 2:30 p.m. on November 17, 2011. A security camera filmed her arriving at the condo and then driving away. She was leaving the family salon for the day, headed to work at a bar in Sanford. Parker appeared on The People's Court that day. The show was recorded months earlier. Parker worked at a bar in Sanford, where she was reportedly going before she disappeared. She never showed up to work, authorities said. At 4:26 p.m. that day, Parker's brother sent her a text message asking where she was. The reply read simply "Waterford." Her brother said she normally sent long text messages and it was uncharacteristic of her to reply with just one word; he doesn't believe Parker sent the message herself. Her cellular phone pinged in the area of Oakridge Road near Belle Isle, more than seven miles where she was last seen, at 8:00 p.m. The phone turned off there. The next day, her vehicle was located at Walden Palms Apartments in the 4700 block of Walden Circle in Orlando, with its decals removed from the windows. Three weeks after Parker's disappearance, police found her cellular phone in a lake near the Nela Bridge in Belle Isle.

Additional Details:

On November 28, 2011, Chief Rooney announced that Dale Smith was the only suspect in Michelle's disappearance. The 40-year-old had been the last person to see Michelle and had refused to take a polygraph examination about the case. Authorities have named Smith as the main suspect in Parker's disappearance, but for the first time, according to the newspaper, they acknowledged that another person was involved. "This was a two-person situation," Moreschi said Monday. Orlando Police released a 30-second video of Parker's Hummer stopped at the intersection of Vineland and Conroy roads around 8:55 p.m. on Nov. 17, 2011. The video was taken after she dropped her children off with ex-fiance Dale Smith II. Her black SUV was found the next day nearly a half-mile away at Walden Circle and Vineland Road. In March 2013, the mother of missing Florida mom Michelle Parker filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Parker's ex-fiance, who is the father of two of her children. Parker, 33, of Orlando, Fla., has been missing since Nov. 17, 2011, the same day her appearance on "The People's Court" television show aired. She and Smith appeared in the episode to resolve a dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring. A judge on Wednesday granted a motion to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit in the case of Michelle Parker, who vanished in 2011. The family of missing mom Michelle Parker re-filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Parker's ex-fiance. Dale Smith Jr. is still considered a person of interest in Parker's disappearance. He never been charged. During his deposition, however, Dale refused to answer questions about the case. Instead, he asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. He feared anything he said in the civil trial might later be used against him in a criminal trial. Investigators conducted extensive searches of waterways, wooded areas, retention ponds and properties connected to the investigation. In August 2023, investigators used ground-penetrating radar to search the yard at the home of Smith's father, focusing ... On Wednesday morning, officers started searching Smith's father's home. From Drone 9, police could be seen using ground-penetrating radar to scan the slab and the area around it for hours, but it turned up nothing. Officers said nothing was found during the search. An anonymous donor is reportedly offering a $200,000 reward in the case.

Case Last Updated:

Oct 14, 2026