A Transwoman disappears after meeting up with date In the crisp autumn air of November 20, 2012, nineteen-year-old Dashad 'Sage' Smith, a Black transgender woman, walked out of her Charlottesville, Virginia home, telling her roommate she was heading out for a date. This would be the last time she was seen by those who knew her. Smith, who had recently graduated high school and was pursuing her dream of becoming a hairdresser, was just beginning to live her life authentically.
Her disappearance that evening set in motion a long and painful search for answers for her family and the community.
The investigation into Sage's disappearance soon focused on a man named Erik McFadden. Phone records indicated that McFadden was the last person to have been in contact with Sage, and it was believed she was on her way to meet him that night. In the initial days of the investigation, McFadden’s story about his planned meeting with Sage was inconsistent. He initially told an acquaintance that Sage never showed up for their meeting. However, his narrative soon changed. He later claimed they did meet but were confronted by a group of people, causing him to flee. After a brief phone conversation with a detective, McFadden failed to show up for a scheduled in-person interview and vanished, leaving a trail of questions and deepening the mystery surrounding Sage’s fate.
For years, the case grew cold. Sage's family and friends continued to advocate for her, feeling that the investigation did not receive the attention it deserved. In 2016, the Charlottesville Police Department reclassified Sage's missing person case as a homicide, a grim acknowledgment that she was likely no longer alive. The search for Erik McFadden continued, with authorities believing he had traveled to various cities, including Baltimore, Atlanta, and New York. His own family eventually filed a missing person report for him in 2019.
A significant breakthrough in the case came in the fall of 2025. Acting on a lead, Charlottesville detectives traveled to Los Angeles, California, where they located Erik McFadden. He was found attempting to change his name and was known to have used aliases such as Frank Hargrave and Shiloh Matthysse. McFadden voluntarily agreed to an hour-long interview with the detectives before they returned to Virginia. While the details of what he said have not been publicly released, authorities are carefully reviewing the new information. As of late 2025, no arrests have been made in connection with Sage Smith's death, and the investigation remains ongoing. The discovery of McFadden has brought a renewed sense of hope for a resolution, yet for Sage's loved ones, the long wait for justice continues.
