5 chilling details about Cindy Smith's murder

Tonight, Cold Justice revisits the chilling case of Cindy Smith, which gripped Lawrence County, Missouri, for more than 30 years. In the summer of 1988, 31-year-old nurse’s aide Cindy Smith vanished after a night at a local bar. When she did not show up to collect her young sons that night, Smith was reported missing.

Eleven days later, the search for Cindy ended in horror at Dry Valley Cemetery, where her body was found. For decades, her murder remained a mystery until Kelly Siegler and Johnny Bonds from Cold Justice joined forces with local authorities to re-investigate, uncovering the truth behind one of the county’s most haunting crimes.

---

Cindy Smith's murder: 5 key details explored

1. The night Cindy Smith went missing

On July 28, 1988, 31-year-old Cindy Smith, a nurse’s aide and devoted mother of two young boys, spent the evening at Checkers, a popular bar in Lawrence County, Missouri. Cindy was expected to pick up her sons, eight-year-old Shawn and four-year-old Jason, afterward. When she did not come to pick them up that night, her disappearance was quickly reported.

After an extensive search, Cindy’s body was discovered on August 8, 1988, in Dry Valley Cemetery. By the time Cindy Smith was discovered, her remains had already begun decomposing, and her head was found separated from her body. This made it difficult for investigators to ascertain the cause of her death.

---

2. Early suspects and investigation

Investigators initially considered two suspects- Cindy’s estranged husband, Louis Smith, with whom she was undergoing a divorce at the time of her death, and Lawrence (Larry) Timmons, a local laborer with a history of criminal activity.

Timmons had been convicted in 1976 of kidnapping an 11-year-old boy and served four years in prison for this. He was also accused of harassment multiple times in Monett, Missouri, where he worked at a YMCA. Several women reported that he used his position to prey on them. One woman even recalled receiving a sexually explicit email from Timmons shortly after joining the gym.

---

3. Witness reports confirmed Timmons as the suspect

Witnesses from the night Cindy disappeared further supported suspicions about Timmons being the man behind Cindy Smith's murder. Marilyn Chambers, a friend who had driven Cindy to Checkers, reported that Timmons was harassing women that evening. She recalled Cindy saying that she would catch a ride home with Timmons that night.

The case of Cindy Smith explored on Oxygen (Image via Getty)

Another witness described seeing Cindy inside a pickup truck, whose description of the truck matched the vehicle Timmons drove at the time. Even his then-wife, Deborah, had reportedly told a friend that she suspected her husband had killed a woman and left her in a cemetery. She even described the night when Timmons returned home late and immediately washed and cleaned his clothes and vehicle.

---

4. Cold Case Revived

Despite the mounting suspicions against Timmons, Cindy’s case went cold. For more than 30 years, her sons grew up without knowing who had murdered their mother. The break came decades later when Cold Justice, Oxygen’s investigative true-crime series, revisited the case.

Host Kelly Siegler and retired homicide investigator Johnny Bonds, partnered with Lt. Chris Berry and Sgt. Melissa Phillips of the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, to solve the case of Cindy's murder. They re-examined old evidence, re-interviewed witnesses, and reconstructed the events of that night, building a compelling case against Timmons.

---

5. Arrest, Trial, and Outcome

When the team presented their findings to Lawrence County District Attorney Don Trotter, he determined that the evidence was strong enough to press charges. On September 6, 2019, while incarcerated on unrelated charges, Lawrence Timmons was formally arrested and charged with Cindy Smith’s murder.

While this brought some closure to Smith's family, the legal outcome of the case was not as definitive as her family had hoped. Timmons’ attorney, Adam Woody, maintained his client’s innocence throughout the proceedings. In late 2021, the murder charge against Timmons was ultimately dismissed.

---

Catch more about the case tonight on Oxygen's Cold Justice.