Fiance: 'I'm trying to be optimistic. I'm trying to be hopeful'
SEATTLE (AP) - Despite ongoing searches by divers, boats and aircraft, investigators have yet to turn up any solid leads in the weekend disappearance of a Silverdale woman and her 8-year-old son.
The van that Shantina "Kat" Smiley, 29, drove was found Sunday abandoned and partially submerged in water on a remote Puget Sound beach.
"It's almost like she vanished out of thin air," said Chelsie Woodard, 32, of Castle Rock, whose father used to be married to Smiley's mother.
Investigators were taking another look at the van now that it has dried out. And the sheriff's office sent someone to Kitsap County to continue the investigation near Smiley's home.
Friends and family are befuddled, and authorities said the case baffles them, as well.
Thurston County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Mealy said Tuesday that investigators don't know anything more than what they knew Sunday.
Investigators continued to talk 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 stepsister said everyone in the family thinks something different about what happened to Smiley, because so little information about her disappearance has surfaced.
Woodard was looking forward to Smiley's arrival with her son, Azriel Carver, around 7:30 or 8 p.m. Saturday evening. They were going to spend the night at her house and get more thoroughly re-acquainted after a few years of being out of touch while they lived in different parts of the country.
But Smiley and Azriel never showed up.
Carie Tonovitz, of Silverdale, said in an e-mail Tuesday that Smiley was a good mom who was very wrapped up in her son's life. Tonovitz, Smiley and her fiance, Robb Simmons, are den leaders of their sons' Cub Scout group.
"Kat and Robb are cute to see together, great parents, good people," Tonovitz wrote. "Kat and Robb are very involved in Scouts, Kat going so far as to sleep on the gym floor a couple of weeks ago with the Cub Scouts. I snuck home because I was unwilling to do that."
Family and friends are depending on Simmons to keep them informed about the investigation, Woodard said.
Simmons and Mealy both said they don't have much information to share.
"I'm trying to be optimistic. I'm trying to be hopeful," Simmons told KOMO Radio on Tuesday. "I just want to hear that she's safe."
Woodard described her younger stepsister as smart, nice and happy.
"She likes to do family things and outdoor type things just like anybody in Washington state," Woodard said. "There's nothing out of the ordinary about her."
She said Simmons also seems like a really nice guy and that they seem to get along well. Woodard called her nephew outgoing and energetic.
They're part of a large family that homesteaded near the Toutle River and other sites in south-central Washington. Smiley went to high school in Castle Rock and now works in medical billing, as well as doing some part-time photography work.
The van that Shantina "Kat" Smiley, 29, drove was found Sunday abandoned and partially submerged in water on a remote Puget Sound beach.
"It's almost like she vanished out of thin air," said Chelsie Woodard, 32, of Castle Rock, whose father used to be married to Smiley's mother.
Investigators were taking another look at the van now that it has dried out. And the sheriff's office sent someone to Kitsap County to continue the investigation near Smiley's home.
Friends and family are befuddled, and authorities said the case baffles them, as well.
Thurston County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Mealy said Tuesday that investigators don't know anything more than what they knew Sunday.
Investigators continued to talk 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 stepsister said everyone in the family thinks something different about what happened to Smiley, because so little information about her disappearance has surfaced.
Woodard was looking forward to Smiley's arrival with her son, Azriel Carver, around 7:30 or 8 p.m. Saturday evening. They were going to spend the night at her house and get more thoroughly re-acquainted after a few years of being out of touch while they lived in different parts of the country.
But Smiley and Azriel never showed up.
Carie Tonovitz, of Silverdale, said in an e-mail Tuesday that Smiley was a good mom who was very wrapped up in her son's life. Tonovitz, Smiley and her fiance, Robb Simmons, are den leaders of their sons' Cub Scout group.
"Kat and Robb are cute to see together, great parents, good people," Tonovitz wrote. "Kat and Robb are very involved in Scouts, Kat going so far as to sleep on the gym floor a couple of weeks ago with the Cub Scouts. I snuck home because I was unwilling to do that."
Family and friends are depending on Simmons to keep them informed about the investigation, Woodard said.
Simmons and Mealy both said they don't have much information to share.
"I'm trying to be optimistic. I'm trying to be hopeful," Simmons told KOMO Radio on Tuesday. "I just want to hear that she's safe."
Woodard described her younger stepsister as smart, nice and happy.
"She likes to do family things and outdoor type things just like anybody in Washington state," Woodard said. "There's nothing out of the ordinary about her."
She said Simmons also seems like a really nice guy and that they seem to get along well. Woodard called her nephew outgoing and energetic.
They're part of a large family that homesteaded near the Toutle River and other sites in south-central Washington. Smiley went to high school in Castle Rock and now works in medical billing, as well as doing some part-time photography work.