Just days after news broke that the iPhone of missing “People’s Court mom” Michelle Parker was found, Orlando Police launched a massive new search.
The new area being searched is in East Orange County, according to the Orlando Sentinel. It was launched this morning, following continued national attention on this story on national outlets like The Today Show and Nancy Grace on HLN.
OPD officers and deputies from its counterpart at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office — the same agency that searched for Caylee Anthony in East Orange County after “Tot Mom” Casey Anthony lied about imaginary nanny Zenaida Gonzalez abducting her daughter — have teamed together to search in a field and wooded area near Econlockhatchee between Curry Ford and Lee Vista Blvd., according to reports.
ATV’s and divers have been common throughout the search, which has lasted more than three weeks.
The prime suspect in the case is Dale Smith Jr., Parker’s ex-fiance who got into it with Parker on an episode of People’s Court that aired just hours before seemingly vanished. Parker’s missing iPhone was reportedly found near a bridge over Orlando’s Lake Conway, near Belle Isle. The area is not far from Smith’s home. It was the biggest break in the case since Parker’s Hummer was found.
Smith’s lawyer, Mark NeJame, denies Smith killed the mother of their twins. Smith refused to take a polygraph — or lie detector — test, but NeJame says that’s only because the tests are not 100 percent reliable and not admissible in court.
Stick with KnightNews.com for the major updates in the case.
