Tuesday, March 8, 2011

True Stories: Betty Gladden Smith aka Betty Fran Smith

Facts in her disappearance

Betty disappeared 18 months after her marriage to John David Smith III in 1990.

Betty and Sherrie together
John David Smith III filed for divorce in 1991. They decided to try at the marriage again and moved to New Jersey, everything seemed ok for a while, but it became evident that he was abusive. On Tuesday, Oct 4, 1991, Betty phoned her daughter for the last time at 8:30pm. She was home recovering from hip surgery. She did not seem upset and mentioned nothing about traveling. This was the last time anyone heard from Betty. Her family called many times trying to get in touch with her. Finally they reached John, and they were told that Betty decided to go on a trip. Of course no one believe him. It was at that time that Betty's sister Sherrie Gladden Smith, and her daughter started to investigate John's past. They discovered that John had not only lied about being married before, but that his former wife, Janice Hartman, was actually missing too since 1974. Sherrie Gladden Smith chronicled her journey of bringing John David Smith to justice in her book "My Sister is Missing." Betty Gladden Smith's body has never been found.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJuly 26, 2013 at 3:46 PM

    I watched the movie yesterday and it was just crazy how he created so many lies and pretended to be some innocent husband and his grandpanrets actually helped him cover his tracks i hope he burns in hell for whar he did to those innocent woman i hope that someday he will confess for were is fran`s body and what he did to her and why my question is why? Is there really a purpose for killing people who loved you. Its just stupid and he only got 15 years for taking someones life ,my brother has 35 years for robbery of an ipod and he was only nineteen thats what makes me more madder and im sorry for what happened to those woman. R.I.P Janice Hartman and Betty Fran Gladden Smith

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