Authorities resume searching water, woods for Washington mom who vanished with son

Search for Washington state mom and son resumes

SEATTLE — Authorities in Washington state on Wednesday resumed their search for a woman who appears to have abandoned a van on a remote Puget Sound beach over the weekend and disappeared with her 8-year-old son.

A boat crew searched the Boston Harbor area near Olympia using two dogs that tried to pick up the scent of 29-year-old Shantina “Kat” Smiley of Silverdale and her son Azriel Carver. Dogs also searched the roads and area surrounding the beach.

The search was back on after an area resident recovered several items that washed up on the beach.

The items included two mismatched leather shoes, a half-full and corked wine bottle, an inhaler and an orange ball, Thurston County sheriff’s Lt. Chris Mealy said.

He said one of the shoes could be a child’s shoe. He added that Smiley purchased a bottle of wine during her travels around Olympia on Saturday night. Sheriff’s Sgt. Cheryl Stines told The Olympian that Azriel uses an inhaler.

Investigators planned to ask Smiley’s fiance, Robb Simmons, if he could determine whether any of the items belonged to Smiley or her son.

Charles Grimmer, who lives near the beach, told The Olympian that search dogs had been to his home twice after his wife reported to the sheriff’s office that someone had knocked loudly and repeatedly on their garage door about 1 a.m. Sunday.

Grimmer said the couple feared someone was trying to get in.

He said he activated the home’s alarm system, then went to front door and looked outside, but he could see no one. After his wife called the sheriff’s office, investigators came to the home with bloodhounds. Stines confirmed that a search dog failed to pick up a scent at the home.

The search and rescue operation had been called off Wednesday morning when detectives didn’t turn up any solid leads and turned their focus toward other segments of the investigation.

“We’re working on a bunch of different theories. We really haven’t closed any possibilities yet,” Mealy said. “We’re not leaning toward one theory or another right now.”

It’s still possible the woman and her son went into the water of Puget Sound, but if they did, Mealy said, they could be anywhere in the region because of the ferocity of the current.

“We will find her,” he said. “I hope we find her alive and well.”

Meanwhile, the boy’s father has arrived in Washington to look for them.

Jay Carver arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport from New York late Tuesday and drove to Olympia, where his former partner and their son were last seen Saturday night.

Carver told Seattle television stations he’s frazzled and wants to get out in the woods and start looking for Smiley and their son.

Smiley was en route from her Kitsap County home to her stepfather’s house in southwest Washington when they vanished Saturday night. Silverdale is about 16 miles west of Seattle, across Puget Sound.

The van Smiley drove was found Sunday, abandoned and partially submerged in water on the remote beach.

Investigators were looking at phone records and talking to people who know Smiley or her son and those who may have met her as she drove through the back roads of Washington state on Saturday night. Her fiance, Robb Simmons said Tuesday that Smiley is a recovering alcoholic who relapsed last week, KING-TV reported.

Simmons said she had been under stress lately. He had been having health issues and fears he might have cancer, and suggested this past week that they get married, he said.

But he said he doesn’t believe the relapse played any role in her disappearance.