SBI AGENTS SOLVE 24-YEAR-OLD COLD CASE

Raleigh, NC -- NCSBI Press Release (September 12, 2019) – A joint investigation by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the Boiling Spring Lakes Police Department (BSLPD) recently uncovered evidence that led to an arrest in a 24-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of Timothy Jason Smart in 1995.  The BSLPD investigated the missing person case of Smart, but eventually the case ran cold.

  More than 20 years later, a local TV news station, WWAY, reported on the unsolved case as part of their “Unsolved” series that aired in May of 2018.  After the news story aired, an anonymous caller contacted the SBI and provided information that revitalized Smart’s case.  Special Agents from the SBI’s Coastal District along with the BSLPD reopened the case.  Officers from the BSLPD arrested Bryan O’Daniels on July 1, 2019, and charged him with murder.  He remains in custody at the Brunswick County Detention Center.  After months of questioning witnesses, SBI agents and officers from the BSLPD found skeletal remains believed to be that of Smart’s on Tuesday, September 10, 2019.  With the assistance of the North Carolina Forest Service, law enforcement was able to recover the buried remains in a wooded area off of West Boiling Spring Road in Boiling Spring Lakes.  The medical examiner will confirm the identify and cause of death. 

 
“Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly.  This case is an example of what happens when agencies utilize all of their resources to collaborate.  Everyone who's worked on this case, past and present, is thankful to be able to bring closure to Tim’s family and friends after all these years,” said Kellie Hodges, SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC).  
 
ASAC Hodges and Boiling Spring Lakes Police Chief Greg Jordan will be available this afternoon for interviews.  Please email if you are interested in scheduling an interview.