Austin Jay Smith -- Missing From California Since March 1993

Details from NamUs**: 

Mr. Smith was last seen by his mother when he left home after having received a telephone call.

Missing Person: Austin Jay Smith
Last-contact date: March 23rd, 1993 in the evening
The area where the MP was last seen: El Monte, California with an indication that his former boss saw him at Rosemead High School in the auditorium
Link to government source: NamUs MP 

VITAL DETAILS

Ethnicity: White or Caucasian
Sex: Male
Age at time of disappearance: 23 years old
Birthdate: August 13th, 1969
Hair: Brown, shorter than collar-length
Eyes: Blue
Scar: None listed
Height/weight: 5'6" and 140 pounds
BMI*: Austin Jay Smith was in the normal range for BMI.
Tattoos: Austin Jay Smith did not have any tattoos associated with his profiles. If you know that the missing person did have tattoos, then please post a remark at the end of this blog post on the matter.

Austin Jay Smith ("Jay") was last heard from on March 23rd, 1993 when he was 23 years of age. This individual has now been missing for about 28 years as of the original publication date of this blog post.

I didn't find anything in the Newspaper.com archives for this missing person, however, his case made web-based news in March 2021 (CBS Los Angeles). Austin was an aspiring accountant, he still lived with his mother at the time of his disappearance, it was this residence that he left before never being seen since, and he had a business meeting. Originally investigated as a missing person case, this one was changed to a homicide investigation sometime between 1993 and 2013.

The CBS Los Angeles article indicates that there is a suspect in the case. The individual that Jay was going to a meeting with was a former employer and someone that Jay had blown a whistle on. The meat of this was that Jay had written a letter stating that the unnamed individual had rented out equipment and space that he did not own. The CBS Los Angeles article is definitely recommended reading for those interested in this case.

When it comes to finding Jay, the several items he was thought to have in his possession should be noted. These items can be cross-referenced against John Does. Note a keyring with several keys, a brown leather wallet with photos, ID, bank cards, a gray/yellow plaid shirt, a white muscle undershirt, gray dress pants,  and gray dress shoes.

Furthermore, there was an indication that Jay might have been put in a barrel in the CBSLA article so human remains found in a barrel are important to note as well. A barrel was missing from the auditorium that Jay was known to have gone to. If you come across a news article or John Doe that was found in a barrel then think of cross-referencing the details of that case with this one. 

The individual that is considered a suspect, in this case, was reportedly gone for two weeks. That could create a large search area, even national, in fact. Police believe that Austin was murdered the same day he disappeared.

Thank you for reading. If have any information about this case, consider contacting the authorities.

Author: Shane Lambert, (Freelance Writer)

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Shane Lambert, (Freelance Writer) is not a Private Investigator, however, he is currently studying to be one as of March 2021.

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*For BMI values, I use the UPPER or HIGHER ranges that are given for height and weight.
**Text might be paraphrased. If taken verbatim, then grammar or spelling errors are not necessarily corrected from original sources.
Disclaimer: Non-opinionated information at this site generally comes from government sources or police reports. Other sources may be used.

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