Account
Jan 28, 2026
Jan 28, 2026
Stephen
E. Smith
30
30
Unknown inches
White
Male
In the summer of 1982, a 30-year-old man named Stephen E. Smith vanished from his home in Cashmere, Washington. He was last seen on July 12, 1982, a devoted father who had full custody of his young daughter. His sister, concerned after not hearing from him, officially reported him as a missing person on July 18. The initial stages of the investigation soon uncovered troubling signs. Several days after the report was made, Stephen's 1966 Pontiac Tempest was discovered abandoned on Dead Man's Hill Road, not far from Dryden, Washington, but there was no trace of Stephen himself. The search for answers would stretch on for decades, leaving his loved ones in a painful state of uncertainty. The investigation into Stephen's disappearance took a grim turn when his family members began to clean his home on July 31 of that same year. Inside, they made a series of disturbing discoveries that pointed towards a violent struggle. Significant amounts of blood were found on a mattress, a towel, and a sofa. An ax handle was also located with blood on it, and perhaps most distressingly, a broken tooth, which was later confirmed to be Stephen's, was found at the scene. These findings led investigators to suspect foul play was involved in his disappearance, shifting the focus from a standard missing person case to a likely homicide investigation. Despite these early discoveries, the case eventually grew cold, with no new leads or arrests for many years. Decades later, in a significant breakthrough, the case was reopened in late 2016, and new investigative efforts led to arrests in March 2017. Stephen's ex-wife, Dawn Soles, and her husband at the time of the disappearance, Bernard Edmund Swaim, were charged with his murder. Authorities alleged that the couple had conspired to murder Stephen to gain custody of the daughter he shared with Soles. According to investigators, Soles and Swaim had planned to get Stephen intoxicated to the point of passing out before killing him. During the legal proceedings, Dawn Soles pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of rendering criminal assistance and agreed to testify against Swaim. However, during the trial in September 2017, the defense challenged her credibility, highlighting inconsistencies in her statements to law enforcement over the years. Ultimately, Bernard Swaim was acquitted of all charges, and much of the physical evidence from 1982 had been lost over time. The case of Stephen E. Smith remains a haunting mystery; although arrests were made and a trial was held, no one has been convicted of his murder, and his body has never been found.
Jul 12, 1982
Cashmere
Washington
Cashmere
Chelan County Sheriff's Office
509-667-6842
06/16/2026
