In the quiet community of Grant's Lick, Kentucky, Steven Allen Hafer, a 32-year-old man, vanished in late March of 1989. At the time of his disappearance, he was described as being 5'11' and weighing approximately 240 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. When he was last seen, he was wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and white gym shoes.
For three years, his family held onto the belief that he had voluntarily left, possibly to sort through personal issues, as he was going through a difficult divorce and was facing the prospect of paying child support. This belief led to a significant delay in him being officially reported as a missing person to the Campbell County Police Department, which occurred in June 1992.
The narrative of Steven Hafer simply walking away from his life began to unravel over many years as investigators started to piece together a much darker story. The first significant break in the case came in 1995 when the ex-wife of Hafer's brother-in-law, David Lee Smith, approached the police with information suggesting his involvement in Hafer's disappearance. She cooperated with investigators by wearing a recording device and engaging in conversations with both Smith and Hafer's wife, Linda. On these recordings, both admitted that Hafer was deceased and had not run away, but they stopped short of confessing to any role in his death. Despite this information, and another tip in 2002 from a different ex-wife of Smith's claiming Hafer's body was buried near the Licking River, authorities felt they lacked sufficient evidence to press charges. It wasn't until March 2008, when a third witness came forward, that the case gained enough momentum for police to re-interview Hafer's wife, who had since remarried. She then admitted that her husband had been murdered inside their home.
The investigation culminated in the arrest of David Lee Smith in June 2008. According to police, Smith and an accomplice, identified as Linda's lover, Rick Lear, attacked Hafer in his home. It is believed that Lear struck Hafer with a blunt object, and then Smith held him down while Lear suffocated him. Smith later admitted to helping dispose of the body but denied participating in the murder itself. By the time of the trial, Rick Lear had passed away from brain cancer. On the eve of his trial, David Lee Smith accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to tampering with physical evidence in exchange for the more serious charge of complicity to commit murder being dropped. He was sentenced to five years in prison, a lenient sentence in the eyes of Hafer's family. Tragically, Steven Hafer's body has never been recovered, and due to the passage of time and changes to the landscape where his body is believed to be buried, the prospects of finding his remains are slim. The case, while having seen a conviction, remains a painful open wound for his loved ones, particularly his two daughters, as the full measure of justice and the closure of a proper burial remain elusive.Last Seen: Mar 1, 1989
