SACRAMENTO-
A Nevada woman finally finds closure after hoping to find her missing father for nearly a year.
Richard Smith, 63, of Sacramento, embarked on a sailing adventure on May 14, 2014. His daughter, Veronica Jackson of Carson City, Nevada said he spent his life savings to purchase a 34-foot blue sailboat called “Xiao Xiang.” Smith, his sister Monique Krewedl, and dog Chloe left the Chanel Island marina in Ventura County, and headed back to Sacramento.
He sent a selfie to Jackson before embarking. However, no one heard anything from the three after that text message.
“Three or four weeks after that, we were getting so freaked out,” Jackson said. “At first, we thought maybe their phones died, we didn’t know. So I called the Coast Guard after that.”
For months, the Coast Guard launched an extensive search. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department followed up with a missing persons report.
“If he’s just out there, floating, lost, or by the second month, if he was hungry, if they had enough water, just all kinds of things cross your mind,” Jackson said.
Jackson said, little by little, hope turned into delusion.
“I saw somebody in San Francisco last year, and I thought it was my dad, and I called the detective, and he said, ‘Honey, I don’t think it’s your dad,’ But I said ‘I do,'” Jackson said.
He was going to go check it out, but then they found a possibly body.
On August 4, 2014, authorities discovered a John Doe 60 miles west of the marina, on San Miguel Island. But his description did not match Richard Smith.
“He says the guy was 5-6 my dad was 6-2. The guy had red hair,” Jackson said. “My dad had salt and pepper hair, So I didn’t really think anything of it.”
Detectives were not convinced either, until they found John Doe was wearing what looked to be Smith’s size 13 shoes.
“The only reason I remember that is before he left, I went to his house, and I saw the shoes, and I said, ‘Dad, why didn’t you get me a pair of these? These are sick.’ So that’s what really caught my eye, and the detectives’ eyes,” Jackson said.
From there, Sheriff’s detectives hoped to close in on the case. They met Jackson in Tahoe, and collected a DNA swab to do a one-on-one comparison with John Doe.
On April 13, 2015, the results came back positive. John Doe was Richard Smith.
But the search is not over. Jackson’s aunt, Monique Krewedl remains missing. Authorities have not found the boat, nor the dog, either.
“My cousins are really freaking out, asking ‘where is my mom,’ ‘where is my aunt,’ and it does suck, and it hit me a lot harder than I thought it would… I guess it’s better, and I’m relieved that they found his [my dad’s] body, and I found closure,” Jackson said.
Jackson said she plans to get a picture of her father tattooed on her left arm, so he remains close to her hear.
“I’m bummed,” Jackson said. “But I will see him again, someday.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to assist with cremation services.
