The NAMUS-45: Reachelle Smith

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Season seven of True crime Bullshit is coming out later
this year, and we're working on other exciting true crime
projects and you can help support all of those by
joining Patreon today at Patreon dot com slash studio both And.
On Patreon, you can get access to ad free and
early episodes, our private Discord channel, and bonus content like

(00:24):
Thoughts and Feelings episodes, archival episodes, research road trip episodes,
and more, plus file access, Apple music playlists, the Discord community,
Quarterly Zoom, Happy Hours, and more. So consider supporting our
research and our investigation into keys and other crimes by
joining Patreon today at Patreon dot com, slash studio both and.

(00:59):
This is a studio Both And production. Rochelle Marie Smith
was last seen on May sixteenth of two thousand and
six and mine not North Dakota. She was only three

(01:20):
years old at the time of her disappearance. She was
approximately three feet and four inches tall and weighed about
forty pounds. Rochelle is a Caucasian female with light brown
hair and brown eyes. She often went by the nickname Peanut.
Rochelle was born to her mother, Samantha Smith, and an
unnamed biological father. It's not known how involved her biodad

(01:45):
was in her life, but by two thousand and six
he was living in Colorado. Samantha was in her late
teens when Rochelle was born and gave her older sister, Stephanie,
custody of her newborn daughter. Despite all that, by all accounts,
Rochelle was a happy child while living with her aunt
Stephanie and mine at Her mother and aunt say she

(02:08):
knew her ABC's, enjoyed puzzles, and loved making her family laugh.
She always hugged everyone she met, and she loved getting
her photo taken. She was known for jumping in front
of anyone with a camera and yelling cheese, even if
they weren't even ready to take a picture yet. By
the time she disappeared, Rochelle and her aunt Stephanie had

(02:30):
gained a roommate, a twenty one year old man named
Lee Cohen. Cohen was friends with both the Smith sisters,
and at least one article refers to Cohen as Stephanie's boyfriend,
but this hasn't been confirmed. He's mostly referred to as
a family friend who had grown up with the sisters.
Cohen did not appear to have been working any sort

(02:52):
of job while living with Rochelle and Stephanie, and police
say that he had a history of drug abuse. Reports
very but a As the story goes, Lee Cohen told
everyone that he was Rochelle's father, even though he knew
he wasn't. A DNA test was taken to prove this
to him. Cohen came into Rochelle's life when she was

(03:14):
just about eight months old, though he had known the
smith sisters many years prior. Rochelle's mother and aunt always
thought it was strange how Cohen claimed to be Rachelle's father,
but they assumed that that meant he loved her as
if she were his own daughter. Lee Cohen's mother, Ellen Loomis,
believed him when he told her that Rochelle was her granddaughter,

(03:36):
and some reports even say that Loomis looked after Rochelle often. However,
other reports say that she only looked after her once.
But according to Cohen's mother, her son, and everyone else
led me to believe that I was her grandmother. In
the weeks before Rochelle disappeared, Lee Cohen was dealing with

(03:57):
some legal trouble. He had been on probation for a
theft of property charge. His probation was supervised in Fargo,
North Dakota, nearly three hundred miles from Mino. When Cohen
failed to check in with his probation officer, presumably because
he was in mine, not a warrant was issued for
his arrest. He was facing eighteen months in prison, and

(04:22):
as Cohen prepared for his upcoming prison sentence, he took
dozens of photos of Rochelle, which he planned to bring
with him for his eighteen months away. Rochelle was last
seen by her primary caretaker, her aunt, Stephanie, on May
sixteenth of two thousand and six. Stephanie had fed her

(04:42):
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, hugged her, and put
her to beat at about ten thirty that evening in
the home that they shared with Lee Cohen, and when
Stephanie awoke the next morning, Rochelle was gone. Cohen told
Stephanie that Rochelle was with his mon at the Air
Force base where she lived, and for a while Stephanie

(05:04):
believed him. But what Stephanie didn't know was that Cohen's
mother had recently moved to Kansas upon her husband's retirement
from the Air Force, and that she had no idea
that her son told people that she was watching Rochelle
and mine not. After several days, Stephanie demanded to see
Cohen's mother at the Air Force base, and it was

(05:27):
around this time that Cohen's story began to unravel and
Stephanie began to panic and call around looking for Rochelle.
One day later, and six days after Rochelle was last seen,
Cohen disappeared with Stephanie's van. He told her that he

(05:48):
was going out to buy cigarettes and then never returned,
and this is when Stephanie began to realize that something
was very wrong and finally contacted the police. An Amber
alert was issued once police spoke to Cohen's mother and
learned that he had been lying about Rochelle's whereabouts for
a week, and so police operated on the assumption that

(06:10):
Rochelle was in Cohen's custody and they could only hope
that he cared for the little girl enough to keep
her safe. Police questioned Cohen's mother, Ellen Loomis, multiple times
during their investigation, and it was only through that questioning
that Ellen learned that Rochelle wasn't her granddaughter. Local law

(06:32):
enforcement quickly determined that Ellen Loomis was not a suspect
in Rochelle's disappearance. She seemed as concerned about the little
girl's welfare as everyone else, and was baffled as to
why her son had lied to her about being Rochelle's father.
It's unclear how involved Rochelle's actual father was in regards

(06:52):
to the search for her. He was not considered a suspect,
and his family contacted my Not police regularly regarding the
search for Rosas. On May twenty third, the stolen van
was found in the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge northwest
of man Lee Cohen's body was found inside. He had

(07:16):
died about twelve hours earlier from carbon monoxide poisoning after
running a hose from the exhaust into the vehicle. His
death was ruled a suicide, and unfortunately, there were no
signs that Rochelle was with him. The studio both and

(07:40):
is sponsored by Betterhelp. I remember when I was growing
up that therapy was seen as something that was just
for people with problems. Now, just about everyone I know
sees a therapist because over time we've learned that say
it with me now, it's important and healthy to talk
about our feelings, and while mental health awareness is growing,

(08:01):
there's still progress to be made. Twenty six percent of
Americans who participated in a recent survey say that they've
avoided seeking mental health support due to fear of judgment.
But the thing is, when people hesitate to get help,
it doesn't just affect them, It impacts their families, workplaces,
and sometimes even entire communities. May is mental health Awareness months,

(08:21):
So let's encourage everyone, ourselves included, to take care of
our well being and break the stigma, because the world
is better when people are happy and healthy. When I
finally started therapy seven years ago, I was super nervous
about the prospect of sharing my innermost thoughts and feelings
with a stranger. But I can say it's been the
best tough decision I've ever made, not just for me,

(08:43):
for my relationship, my career, my family, my friends. Therapy
is a safe space where you can work through your feelings, concerns,
and obstacles with an unbiased, non judgmental, license professional and
betterhelp makes it easy because it's entirely online and you
can do it from the comfort of your own home,
and you can easily switch therapists at any time. At

(09:03):
no extra cost. We're all better with help, so visit
betterhelp dot com slash tcb to get ten percent off
your first month with better Help. That's Better Help. H
e LP dot com slash tcb. Cohen's death was a

(09:29):
huge blow in the search for Rochelle because he was
the last person to have seen her and was now
considered the sole suspect in her disappearance. Authorities were particularly
concerned because Rochelle suffered from asthma and needed medication to
keep it under control. Rochelle's mother, Samantha, told the press

(09:50):
that they believe Cohen may have had an accomplice and
that she hoped Rochelle was safe with that person. She
could not and did not believe that Cohen was capable
of harming her daughter. She said, we think he wanted
to take off with her, and we think he had help.

(10:10):
When an Amber alert was issued, he realized he could
not be with her and killed himself. But this may
have been some wishful thinking on her part, because there
was never any evidence that Cohen had handed Rochelle off
to anyone prior to his suicide. Rochelle's aunt, Stephanie expressed
that not knowing what happened to the little girl was

(10:32):
the worst part of the ordeal. I don't have Rochelle,
she said. I can't hug her, I can't kiss her,
I can't bring her to Grandma's house. Just not knowing
is the problem. I need to know. Authorities set about
searching the wildlife refuge for signs of Rochelle, and this

(10:53):
was a monumental task because the Upper SOURUS National Wildlife
Refuge is nearly thirty two thousand acres and most of
it can only be accessed by foot. The search team
was comprised of National Guard members, law enforcement, horseback riders,
and people on foot in all terrain vehicles. The terrain

(11:15):
was rough, and the searchers battled against the heat and
the rain in their efforts to bring Rochelle home. Ticks
were also a huge problem during the search, with one
officer reporting that he had found over eighty ticks on
himself at the end of a search day. While some
officers worked overtime, most of the officers volunteered their off
duty hours as well. Many of them had to be

(11:38):
forced to go home and stop searching at the end
of each day. Obviously, the entire search team couldn't search
the entirety of the refuge, so they focused their efforts
on the area surrounding where Cohen and the stolen van
had been recovered. Law enforcement estimated they covered approximately two thousand,

(11:59):
five five hundred acres of the refuge in their search,
but ultimately no sign of Rochelle was found. There was
never any evidence that Rochelle had ever been in the
refuge with Cohen at all. In addition to the ground search,
divers also dredged a river channel near Rochelle's home while

(12:20):
bloodhounds searched the surrounding lands. Later on, they even pumped
the channel dry. The city of mine Not was searched
at least eight different times. As police Captain Al Hansen said,
we floated it, drained it, dove it, dogged it, and
walked it. No stone was left unturned in the search

(12:43):
for Rochelle Smith mine Not Police chief Dan Drauvitch told
the press that this was one of the most complex
and frustrating cases his department had ever investigated. He said
that his officers were physically and emotionally drained from their
work on the case, and that Rochelle's disappearance is one
of the cases that he has investigated that has haunted him.

(13:05):
The most investigators in Rochelle's disappearance were most baffled by
the motive because Cohen left no clues behind regarding why
he would have taken Rochelle or why he had taken
his own life. Chief Drauvich spoke about not understanding Cohen's

(13:27):
motive for lying about being Rochelle's biological father. Dravitch told
reporters Cohen said he was the father, and his mother
was convinced he was the father. He called her his child,
and he claimed she was his child, but I'm not
sure he was ever totally convinced he was the father.

(13:48):
Despite a lack of any apparent motive, Cohen was and
has always been the only suspect in Rochelle's disappearance. When
Rochelle's fourth birthday arrived that sept her mother, Samantha told
the media, we don't know if they're giving her a
good birthday party. We don't know if she'll get any

(14:08):
presents or a hug or anything. The statement made it
clear that Rochelle's mother, Samantha, at least believed she was
still alive, and Rochelle's family was heartbroken when the search
for her was eventually called off, they never let go
of their hope that someday Rochelle would be found. But

(14:32):
over the years, the leads dried up, and despite all
the hard work of law enforcement and the search efforts,
the case went cold. In May of twenty twenty one,
fifteen years after Rochelle disappeared, the Minor Police Department called
a press conference announcing that they were closing the case

(14:54):
in the Disappearance of Rochelle Smith. They cited the family's
continued hope Forll's return as their main motivation in closing
the case. Police had enough evidence to know that Rochelle
wouldn't be coming home, and while they too had hoped
for a better outcome, it was time to finally close
the case and give the family the closure they needed.

(15:17):
In that press conference, they declared that Rochelle was dead,
that she had likely been killed the night that she disappeared,
and that they had compelling and overwhelming evidence that the
perpetrator of the crime was Lee Cohen. And then evidence
that had not previously been released to the public was

(15:39):
described in detail. May sixteenth of two thousand and six
had been Lee Cohen's twenty second birthday. He spent the
evening out celebrating before arriving back to the home that
he shared with Rochelle and her aunt, Stephanie. Cohen was
intoxicated when he got home at about one a m.
Stephanie went to bed shortly after Cohen arrived home and

(16:00):
reported that she last saw him watching television on the
couch at the time. Rochelle was asleep on another couch
in that same room. A neighbor reported to police that
they heard crying coming from the home in the middle
of the night. The neighbor walked over to the house
to make sure everything was okay, but no one answered
the door. The light on inside the house went dark

(16:24):
shortly after. The police went on to say that they
recently asked Stephanie if she was aware of the crying
her neighbor had reported. Stephanie said she hadn't heard the crying,
nor has she been aware that her neighbor had reported
hearing crying. Police acknowledged that it was a bit strange
that Stephanie hadn't heard anything that night, but they stated

(16:46):
that they believed this was true. The same neighbor who
reported hearing the crying would also tell police that co
enacted strangely the next morning. He wouldn't look the neighbor
in the eye, and he unloaded a large red cooler
from his vehicle and brought it into the home. Another
neighbor said that Cohen was acting oddly while taking out

(17:07):
the garbage that day. The red cooler was found in
the home and taken for testing by police. The cooler
contained a household chemical cleaner and rags. It was apparent
that there was an attempt to clean the cooler, but
biological evidence had been left behind. Rochelle's blood was found
under the hinge of the cooler, and there was enough

(17:29):
blood present to indicate that something very bad had happened
to Rochelle. The cooler hadn't been used by the family
in a long time prior to Rochelle's disappearance. There was
no other explanation for how Rochelle's blood would have been
found under the hinge. Police reiterated that they didn't know
Cohen's motivation and harming Rochelle, that they didn't want to speculate.

(17:54):
Rochelle's family had never observed Cohen being abusive in any
way toward her, and there were all so never any
abuse allegations against any other family members. Rochelle's family didn't
make a statement regarding the press conference, and police asked
the media to leave them alone. They were devastated and

(18:16):
didn't want to speak about their grief. While the case
is now closed and the perpetrator long dead, Rochelle's body
has still never been recovered. For me, spring is always
about setting the table for the rest of the year,

(18:37):
preparing for summer, spring, cleaning, organizing, setting new habits, and
getting healthy, So it's the perfect time to refresh your
meal routine with Dietitian approved recipes from Green Chef, which
are perfect for supporting your wellness journey. And Green Chef
makes it easier to tackle all the rest that spring
brings because those recipes and preportioned meals are delivered straight

(18:59):
to your door, and now they offer heat and eat meals,
you can enjoy a delicious, wholesome meal in just three minutes.
Green Chef recipes feature fresh, organic, seasonal produce and one
hundred percent responsibly sourced proteins crafted to help you feel
your best. Plus, with eighty plus weekly options, Green Chef
makes it easy to find meals that fit your lifestyle,

(19:21):
whether you're into Mediterranean flavors, gluten free eats, plant based meals,
or protein packed dishes. It's gluten free for me. There's
something for everyone, including options for gutt and brain health,
calorie smart choices, and more. I personally love the five
minute salads. I love a salad, and it's a quick
and easy way to eat healthy at work or at

(19:42):
home after a long day at work. I also love
the flexibility of green Chef because I can adjust my
plan anytime to fit my schedule and my needs. Make
this spring your most delicious yet With green Chef. Head
to greenchef dot com slash fifty true crime bs and
you use code fifty five zero true crime BS to

(20:04):
get fifty percent off your first month and then twenty
percent off for two months with free shipping. That's code
five zero true CRIMEBS at greenshef dot com slash five
zero true crime bs. So why did Rochelle Smith's information

(20:27):
end up on Israel Keys's computer? Most likely because of
Rochelle's last known location, mine Not North Dakota. North Dakota
comes up at least four times in our Keys research,
and mine Not specifically comes up once under some pretty

(20:48):
strange circumstances. We know that during the late nineties and
early aughts, Keys made at least two cross country drives
from Washington State to the East coast, and based on
various interviews, it's clear that at least one of those
trips went through North Dakota and more than likely through Mino.

(21:11):
But travel records also place Keys flying into Grand Forks,
North Dakota, a city on the North Dakota Minnesota state
line three and a half hours east of Mina, on
October twenty fifth of two thousand eight. It's one of
the more suspicious trips that Keys took. According to the
FBI travel records, Keys flew from Anchorage to Seattle on

(21:33):
October twenty fourth. The following day, he flew from Seattle
to Minneapolis, and then from Minneapolis to Grand Forks. From there,
Keyes vanishes and isn't seen again until five days later,
on October thirtieth, two thousand eight, when he boards a
flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to San Francisco. The next day,

(21:55):
he flies from San Francisco back to Seattle, presumably for
a birth day, and two days later he flies from
Seattle to Boston, where he stays for three days and
never uses his credit cards in a trip that is
entirely suspicious. The Grand Forks component is perhaps the most suspicious. Seattle, Minneapolis,

(22:21):
and Phoenix. They're all major airports. It's hard to believe
that Keys would have to travel so out of the
way through so many major airports to make it to
a fairly straightforward final destination in Phoenix. Grand Fork seems
like less a stopover and more a destination. But as

(22:43):
of yet, other than a theory we're working on involving
the Grand Canyon, we can't make sense of these odd flights,
the disappearance, or the long stretch of single night stays
all across the country. The only other time North Dakota
comes up in our research is in our investigation into

(23:05):
the two thousand two disappearance of Evergreen State College student
Jonathan Cory, who mysteriously disappeared at some point after leaving
a party via kayak and While the general belief amongst
friends and investigators is that Jonathan drowned that night, two
witnesses originally reported that he called to say that he

(23:26):
made it to shore safely. Several months later, an unknown
journal with a missing person flyer for Jonathan was left
at a payphone at the mine, not North Dakota Amtrak station.
The journal's owner has never been identified, and while it
seems highly likely that Keys engaged in some sort of

(23:47):
illegal activity in North Dakota, it remains unclear what or when.
We've yet to find any missing persons cases that match
Keys's mo O and known timeline. Additionally, it's quite clear
that Keyes was not responsible for the disappearance of Rochelle Smith.

(24:08):
The date of Rochelle's disappearance, however, is noteworthy as it
pertains to Keys. This was during an odd time in
Keyes's life. He'd just started dating Kimberly, He'd just started
running marathons. He participated in several marathons in western Washington
in May, June, and July that year. He had also

(24:28):
been doing a lot of island camping at Lake Ozette
at the time, island camping we believe could be associated
with a crime. In the same week that Richelle disappeared,
Keyes was finger printed as a suspect in a burglary
at the Macaw Tribal offices, and in the five weeks
surrounding Rochelle's disappearance, we have five fairly strong potential Keys,

(24:52):
Victims Going Missing, Sandy Rideout, Julian Duna, Patrick Maheren, Cynthia Devrees,
and Stephen Michael Mason. We continue to investigate both this
period of Keyes's life and his odd trip through North Dakota,
and we hope to share more and Season seven of

(25:14):
True Crime Bullshit. This episode was written by Shana Wilenski
and Josh Hallmark. It was edited, produced, and hosted by
me Josh Hallmark. Research resources included The Charlie Project, f

(25:35):
w S, dot Gov, Newspapers, dot Com, NamUs, CNN, k
X News, and the Bite Sized Crime Pod. This episode
was made possible by the following Patreon producers, Amy Basel,
Dale Axton Kendall, c Amelia Hancock and at l Ash Fish,
Becky c Benjamin Chopathong, Casey Jensen, Richardson, Christina Sisson, Cory Deatley,

(25:57):
Drew Vipond, Heather Horton, Wheaton, Jenjay, Jillian Natale, Kathleen Studter,
Lna Holiday, Lauren f Lydia Radarte, Quayle Menolos, Bulacus, Nicole
and Dennis Henry, Pink, Robin Wolfe, s C. Shelley Brewers,
Sherry d Trista. Tuesday Whitworth, Zach Ignottowitz, Warren Bethany Heights, Carrie,
Emily Paine, John Comery, Jordan M, Jordan Taylor, Kate Lesier,

(26:18):
Kathy Nation, Megan Inman, Rene La plot Sabrina Abbott, Spooky
and Tory Myers. And thank you to Studio both Anne's
newest Patreon supporters Brianne C, Susan F, Tony M, Adrian W,
Keith m Amy C, trond H Dylan, b Ryan V,
Alex a Healer, Pop Mom, The Sins and Survivors Podcast,

(26:42):
Jody S, Joe c Audrey U, Talisa S, Philip S,
and Ashley J. This episode featured music by Lightless Voyds
Kyle Preston Nine Moons and the Construct of Time

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The NAMUS-45: Reachelle Smith

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

All Episodes

The NAMUS-45: Reachelle Smith

On Purpose with Jay Shetty