Dale Smith Jr. Arrested in Michelle Parker Case | Orlando

Orlando police arrested Dale Smith Jr. on Wednesday, Oct. 14, and charged him with second-degree murder in the disappearance of Michelle Parker, who vanished Nov. 17, 2011.

Parker disappeared after dropping off her twins at Smith's home. That day, an episode of "The People's Court" aired showing Parker and Smith arguing over a $5,000 engagement ring. Parker said their relationship had ended.

On Nov. 28, 2011, Orlando Police Chief Paul Rooney named Smith the primary suspect. Smith denied knowing what happened to Parker after she left his home. In December 2011, a police dive team recovered Parker's cellphone beneath a bridge at Lake Conway in Belle Isle.

Nearly two years later, police released surveillance video showing Parker's Hummer stopped at a red light around 9 p.m. the night she vanished, about a mile from where officers later found it.

Parker's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2013 but eventually dropped it. A 2022 documentary about missing Central Florida women prompted an anonymous donor to offer $200,000 for information. In August 2023, investigators used ground-penetrating radar to search a concrete slab poured in 2012 at the home of Smith's father. They found nothing.

Parker's remains have not been found. Investigators said they reexamined witness testimony, Smith's earlier statements and digital evidence from phones, computers and vehicles. The arrest followed a yearlong expansion of the case team and advances in technology that enabled a more detailed review.