Images Courtesy of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (Susan, Stacie)

Information Courtesy of The Charley Project (Susan, Stacie)

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and it is not meant to cause harm to anyone connected with the case. Please do not contact, threaten, harm, malign, or otherwise intimidate those mentioned in the post. Please do not release any personal information of the people mentioned in this post, and do not join in attacks conducted by others. Per U.S. law, every person directly or indirectly connected with this case is innocent until proven guilty.

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About Susan and Stacie

Susan Smalley was born on September 19, 1969, and Stacie Madison was born on June 17, 1970. Each grew up with a sibling and loving parents. Susan was the younger child, joining her older brother Rich. Stacie would become a big sister in the early 1980s when her younger sister Stefanie was born. She would be six years old at the time of her older sister’s disappearance.

As they grew up, both girls were beloved by all who knew them. Susan was described as having a “sunny personality,” as well as “strong-willed and spirited,” and Stacie was described as “sweet, kind, and caring.” Their responsible natures quickly became evident as they got older, with Susan working as a hostess at the Steak and Ale restaurant in Carrollton and Stacie working as a receptionist at a local doctor’s office. They were both good students and were reportedly good about notifying their families of their whereabouts.

By the time of their disappearance, the girls were friends, and they were a few months shy of their graduation from Newman Smith High School. Stacie had a boyfriend at the time named Kevin R. Elrod, who was described as “controlling” and “abusive.” According to her loved ones, she tried to break up with him shortly before she and Susan disappeared.

Both of the girls had post-graduation plans. Susan wanted to buy a new car and head to Florida, and Stacie planned to attend the University of North Texas.

Disappearance

At the time of their disappearance, spring break was almost over. The girls wanted to enjoy every minute before returning to school.

They spent the day of March 19, 1988, hanging out together and planned for Stacie to sleep over at Susan’s house. But they had other tasks to complete before then. According to The Doe Network, Susan picked up her mother from the Prestonwood Dillard’s, where she worked as a clerk. Stacie followed in her 1967 Mustang convertible.

From there, the timeline becomes dicey. At some point in the evening, they drove to an apartment in Arlington, where there were a bunch of people hanging out. It’s unknown how many of these people were friends with Susan or Stacie. After that, the girls went to the Steak and Ale restaurant, where Susan worked as a hostess. Susan entered the restaurant, stayed inside for approximately five minutes, and spoke to a coworker while Stacie remained in the vehicle. This was their last confirmed sighting.

By midnight, the girls made it back to Susan’s home. Stacie called her mother to check in, and Susan called a friend. The authorities would later state that they believed the girls stayed long enough at the house to make these calls before leaving again.

In the early morning hours of March 20, two women matching Susan’s and Stacie’s descriptions were seen at a 7-11. They reportedly attempted to purchase beer, but they were refused service due to being underage.

At dawn, Susan’s mother noticed that neither girl was at the residence, and Stacie’s car was missing. As a result, she called the police and reported both of them as missing.

Investigation

Even though Susan’s mom called the police quickly, the police were slow to act. According to Stacie’s mom, Ida, the authorities treated the girls as runaways at first. They had disappeared towards the end of their spring break, and they thought that the girls had gone somewhere like South Padre Island. Despite the authorities’ beliefs, none of the girls’ loved ones thought they had ran away.

Eventually, the police began to search, but they failed to locate the girls. However, on Tuesday, March 22, Stacie’s Mustang was found in the Webb Chapel Village parking lot, off Forest Lane in Dallas (about 15 miles east of Carrollton). Upon examining the car, it was discovered that someone had locked the doors, put up the convertible top, and draped the girls’ jackets over a boombox in the backseat. Unfortunately, the police never collected any evidence in or around the car, which made it much harder to identify potential suspects.

While the police searched for the girls, they interviewed witnesses. One name that came up was Kevin R. Elrod, Stacie’s then-boyfriend. As mentioned earlier, he was reported to be abusive towards Stacie. She wanted to break up with him but wasn’t sure how.

Thinking they caught a break, the police brought Kevin in. He was questioned extensively, and he took a polygraph test, which he passed. However, according to The Charley Project, he began dating another woman shortly after Susan and Stacie disappeared. He confessed that he had killed both girls and buried them in a Carrollton-area cemetery.

Shocked and horrified, the woman went to the police and told them what she knew. They were able to locate the correct cemetery, but after an investigation, they were unable to find the girls or any evidence a crime had been committed.

Kevin never denied the confession, but he recanted it. At the time, he was a person of interest, but due to a lack of evidence, this is no longer the case today. After the girls disappeared, he moved out of state and changed his name.

In 2009, Shawn Sutherland, a fellow Newman Smith alumnus, performed an independent investigation and self-published a book. While the book generated hundreds of new leads, none have panned out.

Since then, there have been no new leads in the girls’ disappearance. Ida Madison, Stacie’s mother, has given several interviews with local and national media to keep the girls’ names in the spotlight. Both families love and miss their daughters and long for a resolution.

So much time has gone by without any answers. It’s hard to hold on to any hope at this point. We just want answers.

Rich Smalley, in a 2020 interview, discussing his younger sister Susan

Susan Smalley and Stacie Madison have not been seen since March 20, 1988. They remain missing as of this writing.

My Thoughts

The disappearance of Susan Smalley and Stacie Madison is strange and frustrating. Two high school seniors hang out together as they prepare to sleep over. They later meet up with friends, and there are confirmed sightings of them in nearby cities. But after that, it’s as though the girls walked off the face of the earth. Neither girl has been seen since, leaving both of their families to deal with their inexplicable losses.

When it comes to this case, there are three main theories:

• Susan and Stacie ran away.
• Stacie’s then-boyfriend, Kevin R. Elrod, is responsible for their disappearance.
• Susan and Stacie were abducted by someone else, possibly a stranger.

First, we have the theory that Susan and Stacie ran away. I feel like this is the default theory every time a teenager disappears, regardless of if the evidence points in that direction. While it’s true that many teenagers run away and come home quickly, it’s not true in every case. In Susan and Stacie’s disappearance, there’s no evidence they ran away. Both girls were excellent students, had friends, and had good home lives. Both of them were making post-graduation plans as well. Even if they weren’t happy with their home lives, Susan and Stacie were 18 and 17, respectively. Susan could’ve packed up her things and moved out. Stacie would’ve turned 18 approximately three months after her disappearance.

In short, even if either girl was unhappy, they were on the cusp of adulthood. There was no need for them to run away.

But let’s say for argument’s sake that they were impatient and wanted to leave right then and there. Wouldn’t they have taken more with them? At most, they had the clothes on their backs, maybe their purses/wallets. They would’ve needed far more to disappear, especially since they haven’t been seen in decades.

I could go on, but it’s clear that this theory provides more questions than answers. Because of this, I believe we can safely put it aside.

The next theory is that Stacie’s then-boyfriend, Kevin R. Elrod, is responsible for the girls’ disappearance. I’ll admit, this theory seems likely at first. Multiple accounts described Kevin as abusive. Usually, if a woman goes missing, her boyfriend or husband is the first suspect. He even admitted to murdering and burying the girls in a Carrollton-area cemetery. It seems pretty cut and dry.

The only problem is that when police investigated his claims, they couldn’t find any evidence that the girls were ever there. Not only that, they couldn’t even find evidence a crime had been committed. He later recanted his confession. Even though he was a person of interest at the time, that’s no longer the case as of this writing.

While he seems like a solid suspect, I have a hard time believing him. Yes, he gave a confession with very specific details, but the police never found any evidence. Not only that, but how could he overpower the girls if he was acting alone?

The only way I could see that happening is if he used a gun. If he didn’t use one, he couldn’t have done it alone. Not without being covered in blood, bruises, cuts, scratches, and other injuries.  If he had had suspicious injuries soon after the girls vanished, he would likely still be on the police’s radar.

Although this theory is plausible, we need more information to draw any conclusions. Because of this, we can’t rule this theory in or out.

The last theory is that Susan and Stacie were abducted by someone else, possibly a stranger. For me, this theory makes the most sense. They disappeared at some point in the night, and they were discovered missing the next morning. They were spotted in several different places, such as a restaurant in Carrollton, an apartment in Arlington, and a 7-11. There could’ve been strangers with malicious intents at any of these places.

Even if there weren’t, there were probably witnesses who could’ve given the police useful information. Given that the case was poorly investigated in the beginning, it’s unlikely that all of them were interviewed. I’m willing to bet that at least one of them heard or saw something. The only problem is that since this case happened so long ago, people’s memories have faded, and the responsible party had a head start of nearly four decades.

Unfortunately, unless someone comes forward, we’re unlikely to solve this case. And it’s such a tragedy. These girls were on the cusp of adulthood with their entire lives ahead of them. Meanwhile, their families and communities live with a void in their hearts and an enduring mystery. They deserve closure. Let’s help them out by sharing Susan and Stacie’s story. Maybe one day, they can come home.

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If you’re looking for more information about the disappearance of Susan Smalley and Stacie Madison, there are several news articles and a self-published book about the case. The following sources helped me as I wrote this post:

• Investigation Discovery
• NBC
• Dallas Morning News
• The Doe Network
• NCMEC- Susan Smalley
• NCMEC- Stacie Madison
• Charley Project- Susan Smalley
• Charley Project- Stacie Madison

If you have any information about the disappearance of Susan Smalley and Stacie Madison, please contact the Carrollton Police Department at 1-972-466-3333. You can also submit tips via the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children by calling 1-800-843-5678.

What do you think happened? Let me know in the comments.