In this week's edition of "The Missing," we revisit the mysterious disappearance of William "Billy" Smolinski, a 31-year-old resident of Waterbury, Connecticut, who went missing on August 24, 2004.
"We first learned of Billy's disappearance when his neighbor notified us that Billy had told him he was going out of town for a few days and needed someone to take care of his dog. He said he was going to look at a truck he might want to buy," Billy's mom, Janice Smolinski, said in a recent email. "This was the last time anyone saw or heard from Billy. His keys and wallet were found in his truck, and it was parked in a section of his driveway where he would have never left it."
According to Janice, Billy had recently broken up with his girlfriend, Madeleine Gleason, a bus driver in Woodbridge, after finding out she was having an affair with Chris Sorensen, an elected official in Woodbridge. As a result, Billy's family immediately suspected foul play but allegedly ran into several roadblocks from the start.
"When our family put up missing person flyers, Billy's ex-girlfriend went around and tore them down," Janice said, adding, "The Waterbury police didn't take his disappearance seriously and, in fact, lost 3 DNA samples the family had given them."
Investigators searched Billy's home and truck and conducted several interviews but found no clues suggesting what might have happed to him. The only piece of physical evidence they had was an answering machine tape they received from Sorensen that contained a threatening message Billy had left for him on the day of his disappearance. Phone records show that it was the last known call Billy placed that day. The case eventually grew cold, but Janice was unwilling to give up. She continued to post missing person flyers and at one point was arrested for first-degree harassment after putting a flyer up on a pole near Sorensen's house. Nonetheless, Janice was undeterred and sought help from the media.
In July 2006, journalist Andy Thibault, editor and publisher of The Cool Justice Report, filed a Freedom of Information request seeking information from Billy's missing person file. It took roughly nine months for the FOI Commission to approve the request, but when they did, the information obtained from it came as a shock to Billy's family.
