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On the evening of June 2, 2007, 18-year-old Kelsey Smith left her home in Overland Park, Kansas, to Target. She intended to buy a gift for her then-boyfriend, John Biersmith, for their six-month anniversary before their date. However, Kelsey stopped answering her phone or responding to texts and never returned home. Her abandoned car was found in a nearby parking lot that night.
Detectives then relied on surveillance footage to learn about the happenings from the evening Kelsey disappeared. The same footage was used to identify Edwin Hall as a potential suspect in her kidnapping. The victim's phone then pinged in a wooded Longview Lake area, where they found her body. She was r*ped and strangled to death.
Edwin's thumbprint matched the one taken from the victim's car, which led to kidnapping, murder, r*pe, and sodomy charges being filed against him. Although he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty, he was sentenced to life in prison.
#TextMeWhenYouGetHome's all-new episode will further delve into Kelsey Smith's kidnapping and murder case. The upcoming episode, which is titled after the victim, is scheduled to air on Monday, August 21, 2023, at 8 pm ET on Lifetime.
The official synopsis of the episode states:
"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."
Kelsey Smith went missing after leaving home to go gift shopping for her boyfriend on their six-month anniversary
According to an Oxygen report, Kelsey Smith, a Shawnee Mission West High School graduate, was scheduled to celebrate the six-month anniversary with her boyfriend John Biersmith on the night of June 2, 2007. The young couple had planned a date, and she wanted to get a gift for him.
In the evening hours, Kelsey left her home and headed to a local Target to buy the gift. However, she soon stopped answering her phone or responding to texts and never returned home. John and her sister Lindsay went to the store to search for the teen, but she was nowhere to be found.
By 11 pm that same night, John and Lindsay located Kelsey's abandoned car in the mall across the street from Target, following which the siblings called the police. There was still no sign of her and her phone, and her car keys were also missing. However, the car was then tested for forensic evidence and fingerprints.
Detectives cracked Kelsey Smith's kidnapping using surveillance footage and a crucial tip within days
The outlet reported that detectives examined the surveillance footage, which captured Kelsey Smith entering Target, buying a few items, checking out, and then exiting the store into the parking lot towards her car. She was seen getting into the car and driving away.
However, a review of the video revealed that the missing girl's car was then seen 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.
According to Oxygen, after further exploring the surveillance video from the Target parking lot, retired detective Candace Bridges claimed that they saw "a flash of a figure wearing a white shirt and dark colored pants come up from behind her [Kelsey]." They believed "the blurry figure was forcing Kelsey into her car."
Detectives then realized that Kelsey was being followed throughout by the potential suspect before being kidnapped. An image of the man was released to the media, and several tips followed until after found days, a tipster identified the mysterious man as Edwin Hall.
Edwin Hall was linked to Kelsey Smith's kidnapping, r*pe, and murder using fingerprints
When questioned, Edwin Hall denied seeing Kelsey Smith, but admitted to being at Target and even offered his "DNA, fingerprints, anything he could do to help eliminate himself." A local waitress later reached out to authorities that he once harassed her and skipped paying the bill.
Not long after, detectives used Kelsey's phone records, which last pinged in a wooded area called Longview Lake, where they found her naked body with a nylon belt around the neck. An examination revealed that she was s*xually assaulted and strangled to death.
Following the discovery, Edwin's thumbprint matched the one extracted from the driver's seat belt buckle in Kelsey's car. He was then charged with kidnapping, murder, r*pe, and sodomy. Even though Edwin pleaded guilty to the charges about one-and-a-half years later to avoid the death penalty, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Kelsey Smith's case will feature on Lifetime's #TextMeWhenYouGetHome on Monday at 8 pm ET.
