Five details about Janice Hartman and Betty Fran Gladden-Smith's murders explored

The disappearances of John Smith's wives Janice Hartman and Betty Fran Gladden-Smith led to a murder mystery that unravelled for over two decades. While Hartman (23) disappeared in November 1974, Betty (42) went missing almost two decades later in 1991.

With the efforts of Betty Fran Gladden's family and the FBI, the investigators and common folk of the United States discovered an ugly truth behind the double disappearances.

The Dateline NBC episode titled Chameleon airing on April 26, 2024, at 9 pm EST on NBC showcases the chilling details of the murders. The official synopsis reads:

"A woman goes missing; investigators uncover her husband's chilling history."

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Five shocking details about Janice Hartman and Betty Fran Gladden-Smith's murders explored

1) Janice Hartman went missing three days after her divorce from John Smith

The college sweethearts John David Smith and Janice Hartman got married in 1990 in Detroit at the age of 19. Within a year, the couple returned to Ohio where Hartman started working as a go-go dancer and a police informant, as per court documents.

Smith and Hartman shared a difficult relationship as Hartman's family often noticed bruises on her body, according to Michael Fleeman's The Stranger in My Bed. The two separated with a divorce shortly after Hartman survived an attempted r*pe.

However, John Smith reported Janice Hartman (23) missing on November 17, 1974—two days after their divorce.

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2) Hartman's body was found in rural Indiana in March 1980

A few road workers, along a stretch of uninhabited highway road, discovered a wooden ply of about four and a half feet lying next to a corn field, per Munster's The Times. The men reported the box and the belongings to the Indiana Police Department who took the box to a coroner.

Janice Hartman (Image via Forensic Files Wiki)

The wooden box contained the skeletal remains of Janice Hartman with her legs dismembered from the knee. The body was discovered on March 22, 1980, and the reported Jane Doe inside the box came to be known as the Lady in the Box.

The box was determined to be 53 inches and contained a crucifix wrapped in clothing, as per The Times' report.

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3) Betty Fran Gladden-Smith went missing under similar circumstances

John Smith moved to Florida and worked as an engineer, as per NJ.com. The next victim, Betty Fran Gladden, worked in the same software company and the two got married in March 1990. The couple then moved to a condominium in West Windsor, New Jersey.

However, Betty Fran Gladden (49) was reported missing on October 4, 1991. Per Smith's statement, Betty had packed a red suitcase and left behind a note saying:

“Going away for a few days. Don't forget to feed the fish”

As reported by the Daily Mail, Betty had been bedridden due to a hip injury having slipped over wet tiles at the time of her disappearance. Fran Gladden's family reported her missing when they failed to receive her in Florida after John mentioned her leaving for a trip back home.

Betty Fran Gladden-Smith's body has never been found since.

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4) John's brother, Michael Smith, was aware of Janice's mummified and boxed corpse

While Hartman's disappearance came to be known Lady in the Box case, the box was stored with the Indiana Police Department and the remains were buried as Jane Doe in Morrocoo, Indiana, as per ABC News.

As the FBI picked up the investigation, Michael Smith confessed to the detectives that he had been aware of the mummified body of Janice in their grandfather's Marathon gas-filling station.

Michael was witness to John constructing a plywood box alleged to be for Janice's belongings, as per Oxygen. Michael stumbled upon the same box when he cleaned out the gas station garage five years later in 1980. He pried it open to the disfigured remains of a woman with rainbow hair cut from her knees to fit inside the box, as per court documents.

John Smith disposed of the box in rural Indiana when he was confronted about it and then allegedly took off.

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5) John Smith was sentenced for the murder of Janice Hartman while Fran Gladden-Smith's body remains missing

After Betty Fran Gladden's disappearance, John married Diane Beasley in 1998 while the investigation into the disappearances of Janice and Betty had been taken up by the FBI. With Michael Smith's confession, John Smith was arrested in 2000 and charged with Janice Hartman's murder.

Smith was serving 15 years to life in Marion Correctional Institution when he faced indictment for the murder of Betty Fran Gladden in 2019. However, the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence, as per NJ.com. He is presently incarcerated at a prison facility in Ohio.

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Watch the latest Dateline episode on NBC on April 26, 2024.