Do you know who abducted and murdered 5 year old Neely Shane Smith in 1981?
On February 18, 1981, 5-year-old Neely Shane Smith was abducted while playing near her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Witnesses reported seeing a man with gray hair forcing her into his van. After an extensive search, Neely's remains were discovered nearly two months later, on April 11, 1981, in a remote area near the Mecklenburg-Union County line. Neely had been raped and strangled, a crime that devastated the local community.
Fred Coffey, who was convicted of another child murder in Charlotte, has long been considered a suspect in Neely's case, but no physical evidence has been found to link him directly to her murder. Coffey, now serving a life sentence, remains a key figure in the investigation, and detectives continue to explore new angles in the cold case, including advances in DNA testing. The case, though decades old, remains open, and authorities hope to one day solve it
