Ronald Dean Smith, a five-year-old boy, disappeared on August 24, 1974, after playing at a local park. His grandmother, Shirley O'Conner, was babysitting him while his mother was out of town. When he failed to return home for dinner, authorities launched an extensive search, but no immediate clues surfaced regarding his whereabouts.
Nearly two months later, on October 13, 1974, a group of children collecting beer cans along Ortega Highway near El Cariso Village in Riverside County
discovered a body. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department confirmed that the remains matched the description of Ronald Dean Smith, though the body was too decomposed for facial identification. His clothing, however, was consistent with what he had been wearing at the time of his disappearance. An autopsy confirmed the tragic reality—Ronald had been murdered.
For years, investigators struggled to identify a suspect. However, in 1978, Patrick Wayne Kearney, a serial killer known as 'The Trash Bag Killer,' was charged with multiple murders, including that of Ronald Dean Smith. Kearney had a history of targeting young men and boys, often disposing of their remains in trash bags along highways in Southern California. He was already serving a life sentence for other murders when authorities linked him to Ronald's case. Kearney ultimately confessed to killing Ronald, among many others.
Kearney was convicted of multiple counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. His crimes spanned from 1962 to 1977, and he was suspected of killing between 21 and 43 victims. His method of operation involved picking up young male hitchhikers or individuals from gay bars, killing them quickly, and disposing of their bodies in remote locations. Despite his conviction, the full extent of his crimes remains uncertain.
Ronald Dean Smith's murder was one of many tragic cases tied to Kearney, a predator who terrorized Southern California for over a decade. His confession brought some closure to Ronald's family, but the pain of losing a young child in such a horrific manner remains immeasurable.
