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Chris Smith, a rising entrepreneur from California, mysteriously disappeared in June 2010 without prior notice. Soon, Smith's family and friends received emails from him in which he claimed that he was traveling the world, which somehow did not come as a shock to anyone given his wanderlust nature. But weeks turned into months, and there was no sign of him with the occasional exception of emails.
However, by early 2011, Chris' family became suspicious when he failed to return and made a shocking discovery after their attempt to trace the emails he was apparently sending. Something in this office also didn't seem right, and his brother Paul got the gist of it. A missing persons report was filed, leading to many brutal revelations and a greedy business partner.
All evidence suggested that Chris Smith was murdered by his business partner, Ed Shin, who later posed as the victim and sent those emails to his family. Shin was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Smith's body was never found.
Here are a few key facts about the case revealed during the lengthy investigation.
Five key facts about Chris Smith's disappearance and subsequent murder case
1) The killer sent emails to Chris Smith's family and friends for months after his murder
Chris Smith's family believed he was living out his dream when he suddenly left without any prior notice. They did not, however, raise suspicions because Smith maintained a connection via emails, or so they thought. Smith always had the desire to explore the world. The first email was sent in June 2010 and stated that Smith was selling his business, which he founded with Ed Shin, and renting a 45-foot boat to visit South America.
Smith sent his parents an email on July 10 informing them of his travels to Chile, Peru, and the Galapagos. He said he was going to 25 more islands and might never return, followed by a "HA. Just kidding." He then started sending emails, admitting to using drugs and expressing his suicidal thoughts. It was only later revealed that his killer, Shin, was sending those emails as a cover-up.
2) The emails Chris Smith sent were reportedly sent from within the US
Chris sent the last email in December 2010 in which he mentioned selling Krugerrands, a South African gold coin. The email read:
"I’m headed back up through the Congo. I found a dealer in Rwanda that will pay 30 percent markup on krug’s."
When Chris failed to return home for months, at the beginning of 2011, the Smiths became suspicious and filed a missing persons report with the Laguna Beach, California, police and even started their own investigation. They hired a computer specialist to examine the content of the emails. The expert discovered that every email was sent from within the United States.
3) Investigators discovered traces of blood at Chris' office
In January 2011, Chris Smith's business partner Ed Shin, who still owed the landlord hundreds of dollars in rent, reportedly left the 800Xchange office. The owner of the place wished to locate both Shin and Smith to get his hands on the rent money owed to him and hired private investigator Joe Dalu to assist him.
Investigators found traces of blood all across the office, informing the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the Laguna Beach Police. Officials, following forensic examination, discovered significant amounts of blood within the workplace. A few months later, it was revealed that Chris Smith's DNA was a perfect match to the blood found.
4) Chris' business partner Ed Shin eventually confessed to murdering him
During the interrogation process, Ed Shin stated that Smith was on a worldwide tour and that the two had signed the paperwork on Friday, June 4, 2010.
Shin later admitted to accidentally murdering his former business partner, but he refuted claims that he tried to kill him on purpose in the office of the company they owned together. He alleged Smith slipped and hit his head on a desk by accident, resulting in his death, which authorities believed was a false claim.
It was alleged that Shin was having financial problems before the murder and that he agreed to pay $800,000 to resolve a civil lawsuit but required Smith's approval to access the money. Authorities also believed Shin was gambling heavily in Las Vegas.
5) Chris Smith's body was never discovered
Shin claimed that he had no idea where Smiths' body was and refused to offer any further information on the matter. He admitted to paying someone thousands of dollars to dispose of the victim's body while testifying at the trial, but maintained that he was unable to identify the individual who did the job for him.
Authorities believed that Shin drove the body to the desert and left it there based on evidence from Smith's Range Rover and Shin's cellphone records, but Shin claimed that the trail only showed him going to Mexico to flee rather than disposing of the body. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in December 2018 and given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
ID's People Magazine Investigates revisited Chris Smith's murder case in an episode titled Vanished.
