Bravery, Heartbreak, and Forgiveness: The Dawn Smith Jordan Story

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, talks with Dawn Smith Jordan about the tragic loss of her sister, Shari Smith. Sheryl and Dawn discuss Dawn’s journey through unimaginable loss, resilience, and faith. Dawn recounts the horrific events surrounding the tragic abduction and murder of her 17-year-old sister, Shari Smith, in 1985. Ultimately, Dawn gives insight on how her and her family used Shari’s letter to find strength in faith and take each day given as a sign of purpose to live to the fullest, even after the darkest and most unimaginable event.

17-year-old Shari Faye Smith was kidnapped in broad daylight from outside her family's Red Bank home in May 1985. Less than two weeks later, on June 14, the abductor snatched a 9-year-old girl from outside her family's mobile home in Richland County and later killed her.

Dawn Smith Jordan is a speaker, author, singer, and former Miss South Carolina. She is a simple southern woman who is passionate about sharing the message of hope God has written into her life to a world desperate to hear. She considers every opportunity a divine appointment, from the smallest country congregation to the largest auditorium. She uses her platform to share a message of hope and faith, inspiring audiences with her family’s story of resilience.

Learn more about Dawn’s work at her website and on IG @dawndsj

Show Notes:

(0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum
(0:10) Sheryl introduces Dawn Smith Jordan to the show
(1:00) Dawn's pageant experience
(3:30) The tragic event - Shari's abduction
(7:00) Dawn discusses the efforts of law enforcement, the FBI, and profiling pioneer John Douglas
(16:00) The chilling phone calls
(20:00) ”We couldn't really even grieve the loss of Shari because we were so afraid of where he was, what was he doing, when we knew he was quite capable of doing this to more people.”
(24:00) Shari’s last will and testament
(27:00) The impact of Shari’s last words
(33:00) The impact of forgiveness
(35:30) Living beyond the tragedy
(39:00) “If you ain’t dead, God ain’t done.”
(42:00) Final thoughts
(43:44) ”Some good will come of this.” -Shari Smith
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.

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