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Michelle Parker Timeline: Key Dates To Missing Mom Investigation

Michelle Parker

First Posted: 12/06/11 02:54 PM ET Updated: 12/07/11 10:34 PM ET

Police in Florida are trying to locate Michelle Parker, a 33-year-old missing mother of three from Orlando who has been missing since last month. Dale Smith, the father of Parker's twin 3 year olds, has been named the prime suspect in the case over her disappearance.

The following timeline begins on Nov. 17, the day Parker disappeared without a trace.

NOTE: This timeline will continue to be updated and amended as more information becomes available. Please send tips.

November 17
Morning -- Michelle Parker and her boyfriend, Nathan Mitchell, had coffee together.

2 p.m. -- An episode of "The People's Court" with Parker and her ex-fiance, Dale Smith, aired on television. The couple was in dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring that was lost after Parker threw it at Smith in anger. During the program, which had been taped in August, Parker alleged that Smith has a drug and alcohol problem and had been violent with her in the past.

"He gets pretty malicious and vindictive," Parker said. After hearing both sides Judge Marilyn Milian ruled the couple should split the cost of the ring and ordered Parker to pay $2,500 for her half.

According to Parker's mother, Yvonne Stewart, her daughter regretted taping the show.

"It was the most humiliating experience of my life," Stewart told ABC News her daughter said of the experience. "I don't even ever want to see it. I wish I had never gone."

2:30 p.m. -- Parker visited with family members at her mother's salon in in Oviedo, Florida.

3:15 p.m. --Mitchell and Parker exchanged flirty text messages.

3:18 p.m. -- A security camera records Parker dropping her twin 3 year olds off at Smith's condo on Goldenrod Road. Due to the angle of the camera, her departure time was not recorded.

3:30 p.m. -- Parker's 11-year-old son arrived home from school. Shortly thereafter he called his grandmother, Stewart, and notified her that his mom was not there.

4:26 p.m. -- Parker's brother, Dustin Erickson, sent her a text message and asked her where she was. Moments later, Erickson received a reply with the single word "Waterford," a possible reference to a nearby area.

4:30 p.m. -- According to Smith's attorney, Mark NeJame, his client went to visit his parents with his children.

6:53 p.m. --Parker's sister was unsuccessful in her attempts to reach her by phone.

7:20 p.m. -- Parker's sister reported her missing to police.

8 p.m. -- Parker failed to show up for her job at The Barn restaurant in Sanford. At about the same time her cellphone stopped transmitting a signal to a tower near Belle Isle.

November 18 -- Parker's 2008 black Hummer H3 was found in a parking lot on the west side of Orlando. Decals for Parker's mobile tanning business had been removed from the windows.

Police conducted a search of Smith's condominium. What -- if anything -- of interest was found is not yet known.

Parker's mother told WFTV she believed her daughter was the victim of a random crime, possibly a carjacking.

"If anybody has her and you're holding her hostage, please let her go," Yvonne Stewart told the news station. "Let her come home so she can raise her babies."

November 19 -- The Florida Department of Children and Families opened an investigation into the children's welfare "after allegations of past domestic violence were reported," the agency said in a statement. "This report was generated after the mother was reported missing to authorities."

November 22 -- The Orlando Police Department announced they had no new leads.

November 23 -- Police release a new photograph of Parker (see slideshow) in which she is wearing a cross necklace. Police say the photo may be a key piece of evidence in her disappearance since she was wearing it when she went missing.

Dozens of police officers and hundreds of volunteers conduct a search in the area where Parker's vehicle was found.

November 24 -- Volunteers spent Thanksgiving searching for Parker and distributing flyers with her photo and vital information.

November 25 -- Parker's mother announced that a private donor offered a reward of $50,000 for her daughter's safe return. The family set a deadline of midnight November 27.

November 26 -- Orlando police served a search warrant on Smith's parents' home on Rose Boulevard in Orlando. Witnesses told ABC News a SWAT team served the search warrant.

"Roughly 12 guys piled out, banged on the door, yelled 'search warrant, search warrant,' and basically took everybody out of the house," said neighbor Don Partin, according to ABC News. "They took everybody out, sat them in the yard and then the cops went in, and the crime lab went in and pretty much everybody from all departments showed up."

According to WESH.com, police said they found nothing of significance.

MICHELLE PARKER CASE PHOTOS: (TIMELINE CONTINUES BELOW)

November 28 -- Orlando Police Chief Paul Rooney announced Smith as the primary suspect in Parker's disappearance.

"We had to look at every aspect in the case before we could come out publicly and state that Mr. Smith is our primary focus," Rooney said.

Rooney did not elaborate on why he was considered a suspect, but did say Smith had refused to take a polygraph test.

Smith's checkered past, however, may play a role in why police suspect he could be involved in Parker's disappearance. He was convicted of battery in the 1990s, serving 10 days in jail. His second wife, Shannon, died of an accidental drug overdose. In 1996 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, and he was court martialed in 2001. Smith was subsequently dishonorably discharged in 2003. More recently, in 2009, Parker attempted to obtain a restraining order against Smith, but the request was denied due to lack of evidence.

Parker's mother pleaded with Smith to cooperate with police. "Dale, if you had cooperated with the police and took a polygraph test when they asked you, you could have avoided a lot of stress," Stewart told reporters. "Our family needs to have Michelle home. We need to heal."

November 29 -- The Florida Department of Children and Families claimed Smith was a "significant future risk" to his children and placed the twins in protective custody.

Smith's lawyer, Mark NeJame, told reporters his client declined to take a lie detector test because the devices are unreliable. NeJame also said Smith was asking Texas EquuSearch, a well-known missing person search and recovery group, to look for Parker.

"If this doesn't ring as a testament to a man who is not guilty, I don't know what does," NeJame told reporters. "Mr. Smith wants Michelle found. Now what guilty person is asking for a search to be conducted? If she is found alive or not, he knows that will exonerate him."

Texas EquuSearch confirmed to The Huffington Post that they plan to conduct a search for Parker.

READ KEY COURT DOCUMENTS IN THE CASE: (TIMELINE CONTINUES BELOW)

Dale Smith Legal Documents

NeJame said the timeline in the case and the suggestion that his client may have been involved does not add up.

"Get in your cars, and run that track, and see if you can do it ... and in between, you've killed and gotten rid of -- disposed of a body ... where nobody can find it," NeJame said. "There's no marks, no defensive wounds, no scrapes, no blood, no nothing suggesting a struggle or a death."

He added, "You then, in an hour and 12 minutes, go from one side of town to the other, you then drop off your vehicle, you get in your vehicle and you drive to your father's house. In an hour and 12 minutes. It's not physically possible."

November 30 -- Smith allegedly knocked down a TV news photographer on his way into juvenile court for an emergency custody hearing. The photographer, who suffered scrapes, cuts and elbow pain, told WESH News he planned to go to a doctor to assess his injuries before deciding whether to press charges.

An Orlando juvenile court judge dismissed a petition filed by the Florida Department of Children and Families. The judge said the agency failed to present sufficient probable cause for him to sign a petition on custody. The judge ruled in favor of Smith, pending any future developments in his ex-fiance's disappearance.

Authorities searched an area near Lake Ellenor in south Orange County for Parker. The location is five miles from Smith's parents' house and close to the cell tower that logged Parker's last transmission. Dive teams and search crews from the Orlando Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff's Office participated.

The Orlando Police Department announced a body found near a south Georgia Interstate 95 on-ramp was not Parker.

December 1 -- Texas EquuSearch's founder Tim Miller arrived in Orlando to meet with law enforcement.

The Barn night club held a fundraising event to help Parker's family in their efforts to find her.

"We miss her so much, the last couple weeks every night that we're here that she's supposed to be here it's just not the same, it feels like you're always waiting for her to come to work and she's not," manager Erica Thims told Central Florida News 13.

December 2 -- Authorities searched a fenced retention pond near Smith's home. Nothing of interest was found.

December 6 -- Smith's mother, Tamara Smith, was questioned under oath at the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office.

December 7 -- Smith's father, Dale Smith Sr., was questioned under oath at the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office.

Parker's family announced her missing iPhone 4 has been found, along with the pink, black and white case that she kept it in. According to the missing woman's mother, family members were asked to identify the cell phone at the Orlando Police Department. Police did not say where the cell phone was located.

 
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10:53 AM on 12/09/2011
One of the better and more complete timelines. Interesting on how much information they could put together.
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01:59 AM on 12/07/2011
Same book, same moive, different actors. Beautiful girl gets hooked up with the wrong guys..... goes missing......Same song! How many verses ARE there?. It never ends.
10:50 AM on 12/09/2011
Well said. And sadly true.
10:52 AM on 12/09/2011
So true and so sad at the same time.
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sfbanak
12:38 AM on 12/07/2011
I never understand why anyone goes n these shows....
10:51 AM on 12/09/2011
Some do it because they want their "15 minutes of fame." Some do it because they hope they will be "discovered" and get a movie or TV deal.
12:35 AM on 12/07/2011
I am praying for you Mcheele! What a gorgeous girl- too bad she got mixed up with the trash of Orlando. Theres no doubt it was Dale. I would say 97% chance it was Dale...3% chance it was some stalker/creep that was a regular at the bar she worked at. It's a remote possibility that she rejected a regular at the bar and so he did something to her...however being that Dale killed his 2nd wife he most likely did it. Yes I said killed- read the article from a week ago...he covered it up and somehow got away with it...so he knew he could do it again and get away with it again.
01:52 AM on 12/07/2011
You're right. there are a lot of trash in that area. You have to be very careful who you hook up in Florida. The dreds of society somehow find their way down there, fall through the cracks then committ horrible crimes. sadly, they often get away with these heinous acts. just look at Casey Anthony. she committed the most heinous act, yet walked due to ridiculously flawed criminal statues available. (and the fact the jurors found a young white woman to be sympathetic).this is terrible news. This young woman Michelle loved her children and only wanted to be in their lives. Michelle deserved so much better and the chance to raise her kids. can someone actually break this case before the evidence disappears. this is the most important question.
12:30 AM on 12/07/2011
You have a very attractive woman who works as a bartender that suddenly goes missing in the middle of the day after dropping off her kids and there is no sign of a struggle. What happened?

Here is what I think is the answer:
Someone she knew at the bar has been stalking her without and waiting for the right opportunity to abduct her for his own sick reasons. There was no struggle because she knew the attacker. He followed her until she was alone and then just happens to "show up", after they talk for a bit he pulls out a gun and orders her into his car...
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nohopepope2187
Honest † Impartial † Enlightening † Centrist
12:22 AM on 12/07/2011
Here we go - back to 'reality' TV on the internet. It's like a drama show for some people. Shame on this kind of reporting.
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pati2u
12:21 AM on 12/07/2011
Some of you people are really mean. You don't know her or her life and right away assume the worst and the type of person she was. Shame on you, this is about a missing person, a mother a daughter and a sister. You may not care about her but I'm sure her family is worried and would love to have her back. I hope she is found soon for the sake of her twins and family.
11:10 PM on 12/06/2011
I had a friend that was a captain on a large city police department in Florida .He told me many times never no matter what the circumstances are, DO NOT EVER TAKE A LIE DETECTOR TEST. It is phony,and is not accurate.The opperator of the test decides by guessing if you are lieing or not.Have you ever noticed that almost always the results are either guilty, or inconclusive?
Very few pass. If they were so accurate,why can;t they be used in court? But If you refues to take the test you are automaticly giulty.Remember NEVER TAKE A LIE DETECTOR TEST
11:45 PM on 12/06/2011
You know thats funny you said that, I knew an Lapd cop that said same thing. He told me "never talk without a lawyer even if you did nothing and never take a lie detector test".
12:33 AM on 12/07/2011
He told you correctly then. The post you responded to is actually more factual than many know concerning the lack of validity with those so called lie detectors.
08:51 AM on 12/07/2011
You are SO right! Additionally, polygraphs are machines, subject to innaccuracies even in a most rudimentary role of recording biologic functions
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smusmu
10:36 PM on 12/06/2011
Seems to me as if a secret lover took her out after he found out about her engagement to Mr. Smith. She was driving a hummer and working as a bar tender. Find out who paid for the Hummer and hunt him down. Most likely one of her deep pocket customers were jealous of her having multiple relationships and got rid of her.
She is beautiful but not worthy, I have seen many beautiful women in strip clubs but would never think about dating one, they are like Pros.....
10:15 PM on 12/06/2011
4:26 p.m. -- Parker's brother, Dustin Erickson, sent her a text message and asked her where she was. Moments later, Erickson received a reply with the single word "Waterford," a possible reference to a nearby area.
Doesn't mean she sent the text.
09:55 PM on 12/06/2011
Look at what she dresses like (as a mom), the kind of pictures she has of herself, works at a bar at 33, the kind of "relationships" she has,...you and I know exactly what she is. How many male "friends" do you think she has? I'm talking both the suckers that give her money and pay her bills and the guys she "hooks-up" with just for fun. Why so much attention for a you know what???? There are so many children and decent people missing?

PS- I was a cabaret manager for several years when younger...I can spot them a mile away
11:44 PM on 12/06/2011
It doesn´t matter who she was, or what she is.. the fact is.. she is a missing person, who has a family who loves her, children and people who want her back in their lives.. Who are you to judge? Just because of her job or past.. that doesnt make it okay for her to be missing.

Sometime I wonder what´s wrong with people in the world.. maybe you should be the one who is missing.. and then let me know how your family feels.
12:21 AM on 12/07/2011
Yes it does matter because she is a ___ and there are good decent people missing that don't ever get a mention let alone this much press. Someone offered 50 grand (assuming its true) for a ___ but how many "regular" people does that same donor offer that kind of money to find? She is a ___ I worked with them for a few years, I know the type. She asked for it by choice of lifestyle. One of her "friends" or an ex did it. She had 3 kids with 2 guys and was dating another guy, not counting her "friends". She probably would have had another kid or two with different guys, again I know the type, same story with variations always. She does not deserve this much press compared to decent people/children that are missing.
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FloB
09:34 PM on 12/06/2011
Lots of possibilities here. Unmarried mother named Parker with a mother named Stewart, a brother named Erickson, a Baby daddy of her three year olds named Smith, a current boy friend named Mitchell. These folks get around!
09:27 PM on 12/06/2011
is it possible she ran off, she did say she was embarrassed by the show and it was a big mistake, maybe she deceided to disappear for awhile
09:17 PM on 12/06/2011
Reason number 12 to believe there IS a God, is that justice is ultimately served.
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