Kelsey Smith's murder: 5 key details to know about the case

Kelsey Smith was a fresh high school graduate from Kansas who was kidnapped from a Target parking lot while gift shopping for her boyfriend on their six-month anniversary. Her naked body was discovered in a wooded area within days. The 18-year-old had been r*ped and strangled to death.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.

Using surveillance footage from the store, detectives determined that Kelsey was being stalked by an unknown man who was later identified as 26-year-old Edwin Hall. He was directly linked to the murder when his thumbprint was found inside the victim's abandoned car. He pleaded guilty to several charges, including premeditated murder and r*pe, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome chronicled Kelsey Smith's kidnapping and murder case in an episode that aired on Monday, August 21, 2023. The official synopsis for the episode says:

"Kelsey's family knew something was amiss when their usually responsible and responsive daughter didn't respond to their texts while out running an errand."

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Kelsey Smith's murder: Five details about the kidnapping and murder of the high school graduate from Kansas

1) Kelsey left home to buy a gift for her boyfriend and never returned

Kelsey Smith graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School in May 2007 and was expected to start studying medicine at Kansas State University that fall. On June 2, the 18-year-old was about to celebrate her six-month anniversary with her boyfriend, John Biersmith. The young couple had planned a date for later that night.

In the evening hours, Kelsey left her Overland Park, Kansas, home to head over to a local Target. She had planned to buy a gift for John before their date but stopped responding to calls or texts and never returned home. John, along with Kelsey's elder sister, then went to the mall to search for her and located her abandoned car in the mall across the street from Target.

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2) Kelsey Smith, her phone, and car keys were nowhere to be found

John and Kelsey's elder sister went to Target to search for her when she failed to return home or respond to their calls or texts. There was no sign of her inside the store, and her abandoned car was eventually located by them in the mall across the street from Target. Following this, they called the police, but there was still no sign of the 18-year-old and her phone and car keys were also missing.

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3) Detectives relied on surveillance footage to learn about Kelsey's kidnapping

While investigating Kelsey Smith's disappearance, detectives heavily relied on surveillance footage to learn what actually happened to the teenager on the evening of June 2, 2007. Footage from the Target in question captured Kelsey entering the store, buying a few items, checking out, and then exiting the store into the lot where her car was parked. She was then seen driving away in the car.

But a re-examination of the video showed Kelsey's car being parked in the mall across the street, where it was later found. Following this, an unknown man was captured getting out of the vehicle and walking away. Moreover, in the video from the parking lot, detectives claimed they saw "a flash of a figure wearing a white shirt and dark colored pants come up from behind her." He forced her into the car.

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4) A tipster was able to identify the mysterious man within days

The mysterious man, who kidnapped Kelsey Smith, had been tailing her around the store and grabbed her when he saw the opportunity. Detectives released an image of the man to the media, following which several unsuccessful tips followed. A breakthrough was made in the case after four days when a tipster identified the man as Edwin Hall.

When confronted with the evidence and a picture of Kelsey, Hall denied seeing her but admitted that he was at Target that evening. He even offered his "DNA, fingerprints, anything he could do to help eliminate himself." Later, a local waitress informed authorities that he once harassed her and skipped without paying the bill.

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5) Edwin Hall's thumbprint matched the one found in Kelsey's car shortly after her body was discovered

Detectives reportedly traced Kelsey Smith's phone, which was missing, to find her last known whereabouts. Her phone records revealed that the device last pinged in a wooded area called Longview Lake. There, they found her naked dead body with a nylon belt around her neck. A subsequent examination confirmed that she was s*xually assaulted and the official cause of death was ruled to be strangulation.

Soon after, Edwin Hall's thumbprint matched the one found on the driver's seat belt buckle in Kelsey's car. He was charged with premeditated first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, r*pe, and aggravated s*domy and pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. He was then sentenced to life in prison in September 2008.

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Learn more about the case on Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome.