William Reece, a 12-year-old wannabe ballerina, is the murderer of Laura Smither. Serial killer, rapist, and kidnapper are in prison for life. Laura Smither, a 12-year-old rising ballerina, went missing on April 3, 1997. The young girl went for a morning jog near her Friendswood, Texas home.
Her parents, Gay and Bob Smither
Searched everywhere but couldn’t find their precious baby girl after she hadn’t returned for a long time.
Thousands of volunteers, including US Marines, joined the parents in their search for their daughter, but they found no trace of her.
The body of a young girl was discovered 12 miles from her house by a search squad.
What’s more unfortunate is that it took nearly two decades to apprehend Laura Smither’s killer, William Reece.
Where Is Laura Smither’s Assassin, William Reece, Now?
William Reece is a serial killer, rapist, and kidnapper who pled guilty to the murder of Laura Smither in June 2022.
Laura Smither was murdered on April 3, 1997, according to the perpetrator.
William claimed that he inadvertently hit the dancer with his automobile on a rainy day.
He admits to throwing the 12-year-old’s body into a lake. Later, Reece admitted to strangling the girl and killing her.
After she vanished, more than 6,000 volunteers scoured an area of more than 800 square kilometers.
Her body was discovered seventeen days later, on April 20, 1997,
in a rural water retention pond 10 miles from her house.
The murderer is in prison for the rest of his life.
Reece is being held at the Polunsky jail in Livingston, Texas, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Other Crimes and Charges Against William Reece
Laura was not Reece’s only victim.
In 1997, he murdered three more women: Killi Cox, Tiffany Johnson, and Jessica Cain.
William Reece, a serial killer, has pleaded guilty to the cold-case murders.
In April 1986, Reece kidnapped and raped the 19-year-old daughter of a sheriff’s officer.
He was arrested and charged, but he was released after posting bail.
Years later, in the fall of 1997, William was named as a suspect in another case.
Sandra Sapaugh, 19, was kidnapped and raped by him.
William Reece was convicted of kidnapping in 1998 and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
However, the rapist’s crime spree did not end there.
In the early 2000s, the legislation required him to submit a DNA sample to CODIS.
In 2015, he was linked to Tiffany Johnston’s murder.
Soon after, the jury found Reece guilty of Tiffany’s murder.
Reece was sentenced to death in August of 2021.
Texas authorities were attempting to speak with Reece about a possible connection to the cases of Laura Smither, Kelli Cox, and Jessica Cain.
When Texas investigators visited him in prison, the murderer wanted the death penalty off the table before consenting to talk further.
Jan Bynum and The Smithers agreed; they all wanted to know what happened to their girls.
Kelli Ann Cox, Jessica Cain, and Tiffany’s skeletal remains were recovered in Brazoria and Harris Counties.
Bob and Gay Smither are Laura Smither’s parents.
Laura Smither’s mother and father are Gay Smither and Bob Smither.
Their adored daughter’s abrupt abduction and death had left them befuddled.
However, the late aspiring ballerina’s parents turned their grief into a source of inspiration.
Also read:
Kirsty Ward : Death Cause Linked To Murder
Harlan Crow’s Health: Does He Have Cancer?
In April 1998, they opened the Laura Recovery Center.
The non-profit organization strives to prevent and recover victims of kidnappings and abductions.
The center’s first aims were to raise awareness about child abduction, educate law enforcement, and organize community searches.
However, it is no longer participating in the search for missing children as of 2013.
The Laura Recovery Center has coordinated many community-led searches for kidnapped children,
including those for Danielle van Dam and Morgan Harrington.
Hundreds of volunteers spent weeks combing deserts, highways,
and rural areas in the group’s first out-of-state hunt for van Dam.
It was one of the most major volunteer search missions in California. Her body was discovered by a volunteer group organized by the organization.
