8 months ago
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(NewsNation) — Relatives of missing pistillate Ruthey Smith fearfulness she whitethorn person been trafficked and are hoping to use a billboard to gully much attraction to her disappearance.
Dec. 27, 2024, should person been Smith's 22nd birthday. Instead, her household pleaded for the public's help successful uncovering her astir 3 years aft she disappeared successful a Los Angeles country notorious for pack unit and prostitution.
Smith was last seen successful March 2022. She had been moving arsenic a prostitute to summation fiscal independency for her daughter, who was calved erstwhile Smith was 16.
Her household describes Smith arsenic a devoted mother. They had tried to find assistance and enactment for her, adjacent staging an involution for her.
Smith's parent said she thinks Smith's being a enactment idiosyncratic and a Black pistillate person contributed to a deficiency of attraction and urgency erstwhile it comes to investigating her case. The household said they initially approached the Los Angeles Police Department aft Smith disappeared but the constabulary refused to instrumentality the case.
Ruthey and her daughter, Ocean. (Amanda Lourenco)
Ruthey disappeared from Los Angeles. (Amanda Lourenco)
Ruthey Smith and her girl Ocean emotion the beach. (Amanda Lourenco)
Ruthey and her girl Ocean emotion the beach. (Amanda Lourenco)
Ruthey and her family. (Amanda Lourenco)
As a child, Ruthey loved the ocean. (Amanda Lourenco)
Ruthey and her household astatine their past Christmas together. (Amanda Lourenco)
The Long Beach Police Department is presently starring the investigation, which has nary leads.
Smith's household has entered DNA samples into NamUs, a database that is utilized to assistance place chartless bodies. The DNA has not been linked to immoderate Jane Doe, which is what leads them to judge Smith is live and is simply a unfortunate of enactment trafficking.
Long Beach assembly subordinate Al Austin helped the household erect the billboard, successful hopes idiosyncratic volition travel guardant with accusation astir Smith's whereabouts.
Ruthey Smith is simply a Black pistillate who is 5'4" and 125 pounds. She whitethorn besides usage the names Grayson and Winter. She has a tattoo that says "Ocean" with a question connected her thorax and a pierced chemoreceptor and belly ring. Anyone with accusation connected her should interaction the Long Beach Police Department astatine (562) 435-6711.
