Sage Smith’s disappearance remains unsolved. Dashad “Sage” Smith, a 19-year-old Black transgender woman, vanished in Charlottesville, Virginia on the evening of November 20, 2012, after arranging to meet an acquaintance named Erik McFadden near West Main Street. Her case was reclassified as a homicide in 2016, no one has been charged, and her remains have never been found. In October 2025, Charlottesville detectives located McFadden in Los Angeles, where he had been attempting to legally change his name. He has been interviewed but not arrested.
The Night She Vanished
Smith left the apartment she shared with two friends and walked toward the downtown pedestrian mall. A friend saw her heading west on Main Street just after 6:30 p.m. and recalled that Smith said she was going to meet a man. Her phone received its last call at 6:36 p.m., from a number investigators later tied to Erik McFadden. All activity on the phone stopped after that call. When her roommate Aubrey Carson tried calling around 8:00 p.m., it went straight to voicemail.1Jezebel. I Am a Girl Now, Sage Smith Wrote, Then She Went Missing
Smith had planned to visit family for Thanksgiving and never arrived. Her family reported her missing, and the Charlottesville Police Department began searching.2The Advocate. Virginia Community Pulls Together to Find Missing Transgender Teen
Erik McFadden, the Person of Interest
McFadden, then 21, was the last person known to have been in contact with Smith. The two had met on Craigslist and had been communicating for several weeks. Charlottesville Police Detective Sergeant James Mooney told reporters they had an ongoing sexual relationship that also involved money, with text messages suggesting Smith had asked for and received payments from McFadden. Mooney said the dynamic could have involved “blackmail, prostitution, or neither.”3C-Ville Weekly. Details in Sage Smith Disappearance Come to Light
McFadden first told a detective he had planned to meet Smith near the Amtrak station that evening but had been stood up. He agreed to a formal interview, never showed up, and left town.4City of Charlottesville. Dashad Sage Smith – Investigative Update
Ten days later, on November 30, he sent his girlfriend, University of Virginia student Esther Ayeni, a different account. In that email he wrote that he and Smith had met, that other people appeared, and that he “kept walking not looking back.” He denied any sexual contact, said Smith had been blackmailing him by threatening to tell Ayeni about their interactions, and told her he was moving to the “mid west.”3C-Ville Weekly. Details in Sage Smith Disappearance Come to Light
The day after Smith vanished, McFadden reportedly called a man he had previously met for sex and asked him to delete McFadden’s contact information. When that man later told McFadden he was speaking to police, McFadden cut off contact.3C-Ville Weekly. Details in Sage Smith Disappearance Come to Light
Why No One Has Been Charged
Investigators obtained search warrants for McFadden’s phone, bank records, email, and Twitter accounts, and his girlfriend turned over his computer, clothing, and other belongings. The evidence still fell short of a chargeable case. “If we were to charge this guy, I don’t think we could get a conviction,” Detective Sergeant Mooney said. “I don’t think it goes beyond a reasonable doubt for an abduction.”3C-Ville Weekly. Details in Sage Smith Disappearance Come to Light
Police also conducted significant physical searches, including a landfill in Henrico County that consumed the bulk of the investigation’s budget and produced no results.1Jezebel. I Am a Girl Now, Sage Smith Wrote, Then She Went Missing
Reclassification as a Homicide
In November 2016, the Charlottesville Police Department and the Commonwealth’s Attorney reclassified Smith’s case from a missing person investigation to a homicide. The department said the decision followed “countless months and hours” of reviewing evidence, conducting interviews, and working with local, state, and federal partners.4City of Charlottesville. Dashad Sage Smith – Investigative Update What specific evidence drove the change has not been publicly released.5NC Missing Persons. Dashad Sage Smith Her remains have never been recovered.
McFadden Found in Los Angeles After 13 Years
McFadden himself became a missing person after he left Charlottesville. His family filed a missing persons report for him in June 2019.4City of Charlottesville. Dashad Sage Smith – Investigative Update Over the years detectives traced leads through Baltimore, Joppa (Maryland), Lake City and Columbia (South Carolina), Atlanta, New York City, Rochester, and the West Coast.6City of Charlottesville. Dashad Sage Smith Investigation Update
In October 2025, Charlottesville detectives tracked him to Los Angeles. He was in the process of attempting to legally change his name to “Shiloh Mathis.” Police identified two other aliases he had used: Frank Hargrave and Miles Bakari.7Charlottesville Right Now. CPD Find Person of Interest in Dashad Sage Smith Case
On November 20, 2025, the 13th anniversary of Smith’s disappearance, Charlottesville Police Chief Michael Kochis announced that McFadden had voluntarily sat for an hour-long interview with detectives. Kochis declined to share what McFadden said, why he had fled, or where he had been living, citing the active investigation. He said the information was being “carefully reviewed and incorporated into our ongoing investigative actions.”8CBS19 News. CPD Detectives Find Person of Interest in Smith Case
McFadden has not been arrested or charged. He remains a person of interest and is believed to still be in the Los Angeles area. Police said they are re-interviewing other persons of interest and using new forensic technology to re-examine the case.8CBS19 News. CPD Detectives Find Person of Interest in Smith Case
Criticism of How Police Handled the Case
Smith’s family and local advocates have long faulted the police response. Her grandmother, known as Miss Cookie, said the family did the detectives’ work: “All their information came from us.” Smith’s father, Dean Smith, said he conducted his own investigation and posted information about McFadden on social media when officers did not. The family said it took nine months for then-Chief Tim Longo to agree to a face-to-face meeting, and that he told them, “I’m sorry but I don’t think there’s going to be a good outcome.”1Jezebel. I Am a Girl Now, Sage Smith Wrote, Then She Went Missing
The contrast became sharper in September 2014, when UVA student Hannah Graham disappeared in Charlottesville. The search for Graham was described as the most extensive in Virginia state history and drew a $100,000 reward pool, with $10,000 from the city within a week. By comparison, the city had spent roughly $150,000 on the entire Smith investigation. When the city quickly contributed $10,000 for Graham, officials said they believed they had made a similar donation for Smith; in fact, the earlier $10,000 had come from an anonymous donor. The city eventually matched the amount for Smith’s case after activists pressed the issue at a November 2014 council meeting.9Black and Missing Foundation. Two Years After Sage Smith’s Disappearance, Family Wants Answers Over Discrepancies in Missing Person Cases
Dean Smith called Longo “classist,” pointing to the chief’s public tears during the Graham case. Longo said of Graham: “I felt as if I were in the shoes of [Hannah’s] parents… I’m a human being and I can’t always control how I react to things.” He did not say the same about Smith’s case.1Jezebel. I Am a Girl Now, Sage Smith Wrote, Then She Went Missing
Reporting by Jezebel found that detectives did not request substantive outside support until 11 days after Smith’s disappearance and did not file warrants for her online communications until nearly four months later. Police also did not ask local trash companies to delay collections near where she vanished. Detective Lieutenant James Mooney himself acknowledged that Smith was “black and trans and poor” and that only a “small fraction of our community has taken interest in Sage.” In official documentation and media correspondence, investigators referred to Smith by her birth name and used male pronouns, and one detective characterized McFadden’s interactions with Smith as an “alternative lifestyle.”1Jezebel. I Am a Girl Now, Sage Smith Wrote, Then She Went Missing
Reward and How to Share Information
A total of $20,000 is available for information leading to an arrest: $10,000 through Crime Stoppers and a matching $10,000 from the City of Charlottesville.4City of Charlottesville. Dashad Sage Smith – Investigative Update Police are specifically asking anyone who has lived with, worked with, or had any kind of relationship with McFadden since 2012 to contact Detective Cundiff at (434) 970-3373 or cpdtips@charlottesville.gov.