http://www.examiner.com/x-34328-Seattle-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m4d19-Shantina-Smiley-Still-missing-family-holds-memorial-service-Saturday-fiance-still-holds-out-hope
April 19, 2010 - “Shantina made my life complete,” Robb Simmons, Shantina Smiley’s fiancé told Examiner.com Sunday. “She was taken from me and it was hard holding a memorial service for her when I still don’t know what’s happened to her.”
“I hope this is not good-bye,” Simmons said. “When you don’t have closure all you’re left with is hope.”
Shantina went missing Saturday, March 13. She planned to visit her step-father in Castle Rock, who she had not seen for years. The trip should have taken about two hours.
She forgot her cell phone and decided to stop in Olympia to call Simmons and to get her 8-year old son, Azriel, something to eat.
She had plans to meet up with Simmons at her step-father's house later that evening.
The next few hours turned out to be a series of events that have left police and Shantina’s family with more questions than answers.
“There are so many questions but there are zero answers. Everyone has a theory,” Simmons said. “There’s a three-hour time-span and no one can come up with a solid theory as to what happened to Shantina that night.”
She spent hours in Olympia, driving from one place to the next, her actions caught on store video. Her last stop was at the home of an elderly couple that gave her son a piece of pizza and gave Shantina directions back to the freeway.
It is a mystery why she went the complete opposite direction and ended up down a dark dirt road that led to a private beach.
“Something just doesn’t smell right,” Simmons said.
The next morning neighbors walking along the beach discovered Shantina's van partially submerged in the water and there was no sign of either Shantina or Azriel.
On March 17 items belonging to Shantina and Azriel showed up on the shore about 50 feet from the van.
Initially, it was believed the items floated out into the Sound and were washed up.
But Captain Chamberlain told Examiner.com he doesn’t believe that could have happened, and that the most likely scenario would be those items would have been in a backpack that the pair might have taken with them as they walked down the beach.
Simmons told Examiner.com Sunday he does not believe that theory because some of the items were not in the backpack but were loose in the van, including the ball that was found on shore on March 17. He said that ball had been rolling around on the floor of the van for weeks.
Simmons is hoping beyond hope that Shantina will still return to him alive. His family has been grieving the loss of Azriel, and now they try to make it from one day to the next, dealing with the unknown.
“I’m taking my kids to Seattle today to go for a walk at the Arboretum. I have to keep them busy. My son (DJ, 11) is the kind of person that will sit and dwell on something,” Simmons said. “This is the type of thing we would have done with Shantina and Azriel as a family. We miss them so much.”
Simmons said he believes investigators will be doing another dive this week in the waters of the Puget Sound, looking for Shantina or any clues into her disappearance. Police presume she drowned like her 8-year old son, Azriel.
“Shantina is a wonderful woman,” Simmons said. “I know people have said many things about her, not all good. But I believe people are allowed to change. We got together, talked about our past, worked on a future plan, stitched up that plan, and then made it even better. We planned to be together for the rest of our lives.”
When asked how he and his two children were coping, Simmons said, “The kids have a good network at school. My co-workers are very supportive. I’m trying to keep busy, to keep working on the plan we put together and still hoping she’ll come home.”
Simmons said this has been a very difficult time for both of his children. His daughter, Nicky, 15, was very close to Shantina and considered her a mom. She misses her terribly and said the two years she had with Shantina in her life were the best years of her life.
“The only way we’ll know what happened to her,” Simmons said, “is for her to show up or if someone comes forward.”
About 75 people attended the memorial service held at Brinnon Community Church.