Carolyn Maryann Bealer, a 25-year-old woman from Garden Grove, California, vanished on August 23, 1979, in a case that began as a reported kidnapping and concluded with a murder conviction, though her body has never been found. Bealer, also known by her maiden name Fox, was a white female with black hair and brown eyes, stood 5'4" tall, and weighed 110 pounds. She had two false upper front teeth and wore eyeglasses with rounded brown plastic frames.
The day she disappeared, Bealer's car was discovered abandoned with its lights flashing on the Garden Grove Freeway. Later that day, she made a distressing phone call to her brother, Larry Fox, claiming she had been kidnapped and was being held for a $100,000 ransom. This was the last time her family ever heard from her.
An acquaintance of both Carolyn and her brother, Larry Donald Smith, quickly became a central figure in the investigation. Smith admitted to picking Bealer up from the freeway and was subsequently charged, along with two accomplices, with making violent threats as part of the ransom scheme. He presented a conflicting narrative to authorities, alleging that Bealer was a willing participant in the kidnapping plot, which he claimed was retaliation for her brother allegedly stealing over a million dollars from Smith and his associates.
According to Smith's account, he took Bealer to a cabin in Lake Arrowhead on the evening of her disappearance. He claimed that the following day, they went out on his boat to Dana Point, California, where two men he identified only as "Jack" and "Ray" boarded the vessel and ordered him to leave. Smith stated that the two men departed with Bealer on the boat and returned 30 to 45 minutes later without her. However, authorities charged Smith with Bealer's abduction and presumed murder shortly after she vanished. Small bloodstains on his shirt were matched to Bealer's blood type.
Investigators believe that foul play was involved in Bealer's disappearance and that Smith disposed of her remains in the Pacific Ocean. During his trial, a witness testified to seeing Smith arguing with a young woman as they boarded a boat in Dana Point Harbor. The witness also stated that the boat later returned without the woman or its anchor. In 1980, a year after Bealer's disappearance, Larry Donald Smith was convicted of her abduction and murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Last Seen: Aug 23, 1979
