Search resumes for mom, son after items found

SEATTLE, Wash. - Investigators restarted a search Wednesday afternoon for a mother and son missing near Olympia since Sunday after someone in the area of Boston Harbor recovered several items that washed up overnight.

The search had been called off earlier in the day for 29-year-old Shantina Smiley and her 8-year-old son Azriel Carver, but Lt. Chris Mealy of the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said the discovery of two mismatched leather shoes, a half-full and corked wine bottle, an inhaler, and an orange ball prompted authorities to keep searching.

Shantina’s car was found Sunday submerged in a cove off Budd Inlet.

Investigators planned to ask Shantina’s fiancé, Robb Simmons, if he can determine whether any of the items belonged to Shantina or her son.

Shantina’s ex-husband, Jerry Smiley, said in Castle Rock, Wash. Wednesday it’s completely out of character for Shantina to run away without saying anything to anyone.

Jerry and Shantina were high school sweethearts at Castle Rock High School in the late 1990s. They were married for about six years. They got divorced but have stayed friendly with each other.

He said he got a message from her a couple of days before she headed back to Castle Rock. She told him about getting engaged and he said it sounded like all the troubles of her past - the drugs and alcohol use - were under control.

“When I first found out my heart stopped,” said Jerry. “I felt like I had a thousand pounds on my chest. I had all these crazy thoughts going through my head because the last couple of times I talked to her she’d been upbeat and happy and everything was working out for her.”

Jerry said he spent a couple hours on the phone with Thurston County detectives Wednesday and said they told him they haven’t given up on finding her.

Detectives said if she wandered into the cold waters of Puget Sound, the current could have taken her miles away. Jerry said he doesn’t think she did and told detectives that.

“They wanted to know if she was a good swimmer,” he said. “I used to go spear fishing in Hawaii and she used to go with me - not just ten-foot deep water - all the way out to the reef.”

Azriel’s biological father, Jay Carver, flew in to Seattle from New York Tuesday night. He’s planning to join other family members in the search for Shantina and Azriel in the woods and water near Olympia.

"At first I thought it was foul play that happened,” Carver said. “But you look at the timeline and look at what’s going on, you don’t know. It’s not one of those things that has a clear-cut answer. The more I try to find out about the whole story, the more it’s just confusing.”

Detectives said they don’t have any suspects and they said they don’t even know if there’s been a crime committed.