Man hasn’t been seen in 24 years, but North Carolina cops say they found his murderer
On July 15, 1995, Timothy Smart was 25 when he went missing from the small Brunswick County, North Carolina, town of Boiling Spring Lakes. He hasn’t been seen since.
Police arrested a Wilmington man Monday and charged him with murder in the 24-year-old case, Chief Greg Jordan said Tuesday.
“In May 2018, local media outlets ran a story about a cold case from the City of Boiling Spring Lakes,” the chief said in a press release. “After the story aired, new information came to light and the case evolved into a homicide investigation. As a result, established leads were re-addressed and new leads were developed.”
Bryan Lee O’Daniels, 44, is charged with murder in the Smart case, almost 24 years to the day since he went missing.
O’Daniels is being held in the Brunswick County Detention Center with no bond and was expected to have a first court appearance Tuesday afternoon, according to the chief.
The Wilmington man was arrested Monday afternoon in a residential neighborhood in Leland, North Carolina.
Police did not release any information on if they know more about what happened to Smart or his remains after he went missing.
The police chief credited the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the sheriff’s offices in Brunswick and New Hanover counties and his own department with making an arrest in the case.
“Each agency — along with the case notes from the original reporting officer, Mike Parsons of the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department — were instrumental in helping bring resolution to this case,” the press release states.
This story was originally published July 2, 2019 at 2:40 PM.
