Nineteen-year-old Dashad “Sage” Smith went missing from Charlottesville in 2012. On Thursday, the 13th anniversary of her disappearance, police revealed they’d found a person of interest in the case in Los Angeles. WMRA’s Randi B. Hagi reports.
Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis spoke with reporters on Thursday at City Space on the pedestrian mall, near Fifth and Main Street, where Smith was last seen on November 20, 2012, either with or going to meet a man named Erik McFadden. Kochis said McFadden was the last known person to have been with Smith. Shortly after her disappearance, McFadden called a detective – they believe from New York City – and agreed to do an interview. He never showed, and his family reported him missing in 2019.
Kochis said detectives recently got a lead that he might be in the Los Angeles area.
MICHAEL KOCHIS: Charlottesville detectives traveled to Los Angeles just last month and located him while in the process of attempting to change his name.
He said McFadden voluntarily did an hour-long interview with the detectives. Police know of other places McFadden has been in the last 13 years but are not releasing that information. There is a detective specifically assigned to the case.
KOCHIS: If you have had any contact, any at all, with Mr. Erik McFadden since 2012 – if you knew him, lived with him, worked with him, or were in any form of a relationship with him, we need to hear from you. You may remain anonymous.
Kochis said that police took significant investigative steps back in 2012, including searching landfills and conducting many interviews. The police department and commonwealth’s attorney decided to classify the case as a homicide in 2016.
KOCHIS: We have not forgotten Sage. We will not forget Sage, and we will continue to seek justice with persistence, compassion, and transparency to this community.
Kochis said the smallest piece of information about McFadden could be significant to the case.
