- [911 Operator] 911, what's
the location of the emergency? - [Susan] My daughter is missing. - [911 Operator] What's
your address, ma'am? - [Susan] She's gone, we
can't find her anywhere. I called all her friends. - [911 Operator] How old is she? - [Susan] 11. - [911 Operator] Okay,
what's her name, ma'am? - [Susan] Carlie, C-A-R-L-I-E. - [911 Operator] And her last name? - [Susan] Brucia, B-R-U-C-I-A. - [Narrator] The footage you just watched shows the last known moments
of 11 year old Carlie Brucia as she was abducted in broad
daylight by a violent predator. Despite being reported missing by her parents within half
an hour of her disappearance, Carlie's case would
ultimately go down in history as one of the most depraved
crimes against a young girl. It all started on January 31st, 2004. Carlie had spent the
night at a friend's house, but the following day
was Super Bowl Sunday, so she wanted to get back home
in time to watch the game. She told her friend's mother that she was allowed to make
the walk back home on her own and departed around 6:00 p.m. However, after she left, the
concerned parent reached out to Carlie's mother,
Susan, and informed her that Carlie was walking
the mile back home alone. Susan said she didn't feel comfortable with her daughter walking
even just a few blocks alone so she sent her husband
and Carlie's stepfather, Steve Kansler, to find Carlie and drive her the rest of the way home. However, as Steve went
up and down the route Carlie would've walked, he
couldn't find her anywhere and that's when the
nightmare really began. Steve continued to drive
around for over an hour, praying that he had somehow
simply missed Carlie. But when he returned home
and she still wasn't there, it became clear that
something was seriously wrong. Susan later said of this
moment that she instantly felt something terrible had
happened to Carlie saying, "In my heart, in my mind, I knew." Susan and Steve left the house
together to search again, shouting Carlie's name out the car window as they drove down the road. They stopped briefly to
investigate a wooded area and noticed a red tow
truck drive slowly by them. Then they continued
retracing Carlie's steps and went to her friend's
house to check there and much to their surprise, they saw the same red
truck parked out front. It struck them both as very odd and upon realizing that
Carlie wasn't there either, Susan decided it was
time to call for help. The frantic mother dialed
911 around 7:30 that evening. She couldn't hide the
absolute terror in her voice. - [911 Operator] 911, what's
the location of the emergency? - [Susan] My daughter is missing. - [911 Operator] What's
your address, ma'am, and your phone number? Okay, has she been missing before? - [Susan] No, she had a
fight with her girlfriend and she decided to walk home and we've been driving around
about an hour and a half. - Mm-hmm.
- And it's an hour, hour and a half walk. She's gone, we can't find her anywhere. I've called all of friends. - [911 Operator] How old is she? - [Susan] 11. (crying) - [911 Operator] And
when was the last time that she was seen? - [Susan] Was it six o'clock, Steve? - Yeah.
- Around six o'clock. - [911 Operator] And she
was at her friend's house? - [Susan] Yeah. - [911 Operator] Okay,
what's her name, ma'am? - [Susan] Carlie, C-A-R-L-I-E. - [911 Operator] And last name? - [Susan] Brucia, B-R-U-C-I-A. She's just shy of five feet. - [911 Operator] Okay, do
you know how much she weighs? - [Susan] Around 120 pounds. - [911 Operator] Okay, what
color hair does she have? - [Susan] Dirty blonde. - [911 Operator] And what color eyes? - [Susan] Blue. - [Narrator] Following
the heartbreaking call, police immediately issued a BOLO, or be on the lookout alert, for Carlie and searched the surrounding area for four and a half
hours, but found nothing. Meanwhile, Carlie's family
and friends got to work creating missing persons
flyers with her face on them and they began handing
them out the next morning. But something happened during this time that struck a few people as suspicious. Carlie's stepfather,
Steve, allegedly visited a local equipment rental
business to hand out flyers and asked one of the employees if he could purchase drugs "in a couple of days after
this whole thing blew over". The employee thought it
was a very odd thing to say when his stepdaughter was missing so he contacted the authorities. Detectives also felt that
something was off with Steve so they brought him in for questioning. He stated that he'd been at
home the entire time with Susan, which she was able to corroborate. After fully verifying his alibi,
he was cleared as a suspect but Steve did offer them another name. Ron Choquette. Ron was the owner of the red tow truck and he'd apparently been dating the mother of Carlie's
friend for two months. He was home the night Carlie slept over and at one point, he was
the only adult present. So naturally, Steve informed police about how he'd noticed Ron's
red truck driving suspiciously around the area they were searching. Investigators followed up with
the lead and spoke with Ron, but he told them he'd left for work before Carlie left the residence and that he didn't see
anything out of the ordinary. Moreover, his coworkers
verified his whereabouts, leading police to rule him out as a suspect in Carlie's disappearance. Officers returned to Carlie's home the day after her disappearance
and spoke with Susan again. She insisted that her daughter
had never run away before and that this behavior was
completely out of character. However, statements
made by Carlie's friend suggested otherwise. She said Carlie had been
upset the night before and expressed negative
feelings about her family several times. Carlie also allegedly said
to her friend at least once that she didn't want to go home because she had too many responsibilities. This revelation made officers second guess whether or not Carlie
might have just run away from her friend's house
on her own free will. Still investigators couldn't
rule out the possibility that she had met with foul play, so before leaving the residence, they gave Carlie's mother some
very horrifying instructions. They asked her to contact
her daughter's dentist to obtain her dental records just in case they would be needed to
make an identification. The next morning, Carlie's
classmates arrived at school to find her seat empty
and around the same time, authorities brought in tracking
dogs to aid in their search. The dogs followed Carlie's
scent to the parking lot of Evie's Car Wash, which wasn't part of her expected route home,
but was a known shortcut. While the dogs ultimately lost her scent near the back of the building, the company had several
surveillance cameras and what they captured sent a wave of fear through the entire community. The manager of the car
wash reviewed the tapes and told police he saw what appeared to be the abduction of a young girl
recorded at around 6:30 p.m. The unknown man walked casually at first, as if he was going to pass by. But at the last moment, he
took a large step toward her and grabbed her arm. He likely appeared quite threatening, as he was standing
directly in front of her and was blocking her escape. She likely felt terrified and
panicked, and it's possible that he told her that
everything would be okay if she did everything that he said. As a general rule for
abduction situations, it's safer to put up a big fight early on. The abductor is likely
looking for an easy target. If someone is fighting
against them and screaming, the abductor may be afraid of
attracting too much attention so they retreat. You can teach your children
that if they're alone and approached by a stranger who's trying to get them to go somewhere, they need to be as loud as
they can and try to get away before they get into a
vehicle with that person. Once they're alone in a car with someone, that person has complete power and will likely take the
child to a secluded location where they are familiar
with the surroundings, so it will be much more
difficult to escape. An abductor may try to persuade
a child to come willingly by claiming that as long as
they do what they're told, they won't be harmed. Or they may tell the child
that they will take them to their parent or that
their mom asked them to pick the child up. It may be a good idea to
come up with a safe word for you and your child. Teach them that unless a
stranger uses that safe word, they should not get into
a car with that person, no matter what the stranger may
say to try to convince them. You'll need to practice
this safe word frequently with your child so they don't forget it. To their horror, Carlie's
parents quickly confirmed that the girl on the
tape was their daughter, but no one recognized the
strange man who approached her and forcibly led her out of frame. However, the footage clearly showed that he was a white male of average height with dark hair and
tattoos on his forearms. He was also apparently wearing
a jumpsuit with a name tag, but the video wasn't clear
enough to read the name. In the footage, it seemed
evident that Carlie didn't recognize the man, as he moved into her
path and said something before grabbing her by the arm. Within hours, the startling footage was being played constantly
on local news stations and while hundreds of tips flooded in,
(phone ringing) most proved to be dead ends. Investigators began to fear
the worst as more time passed. But later that day, they
finally got the lead they'd been waiting for. Several people called in
saying they firmly believed the man in the footage to
be 37 year old Joseph Smith, an auto mechanic with a
lengthy criminal history dating back to 1993. In fact, he was out on
parole for a drug bust at the time of Carlie's disappearance. While most of his run-ins with the law were for drug offenses, at
least two crimes on his record involved violence against
women, including kidnapping, aggravated battery,
and false imprisonment. One of Joseph's coworkers
was among the tipsters and two days after Carlie vanished, he stated to police that
the man in the footage strongly resembled him based
on his mannerisms and clothing. Moreover, another employee
claimed that he seemed nervous and appeared to be under the
influence of narcotics at work the day after Carlie went missing. They also reported that Joseph
had been struggling at work due to issues with drugs and money and claimed he didn't
show up for his shift the previous day. At this point, authorities
decided to review the security footage
from the car wash again, hoping to potentially connect Joseph to one of the vehicles
captured on the tapes. They gathered from his coworkers that he drove a brown Lincoln Town Car, but they said it had recently
been out of commission due to transmission issues. Regardless, the only
vehicle that stood out was a pale yellow Buick
station wagon that pulled in approximately three minutes
before Carlie's abduction. The car appeared to drive by before briefly entering
the car wash parking lot. The abductor may have seen
Carlie walking as he drove by, so he turned into the parking
lot and decided to take her. It's also possible that
he'd seen her shortly after she left her friend's house and he then followed her to the car wash. Regardless, he'd likely
thought about abducting a child long before he actually did it. When he saw her walking
alone, he may have saw it as the perfect opportunity
to act out his fantasy. Unfortunately, detectives
couldn't make out the license plate or
who was behind the wheel from the grainy footage, but they knew it was time
to pay Joseph a visit. Officers arrived at the
home of Joseph's friends Jeffrey and Naomi Pincus,
where he was renting a room after being kicked out
of the home he shared with his wife and three young daughters. However, despite seeing Joseph
outside smoking a cigarette when they first drove by the
residence, they got no answer when they knocked at the door. Authorities spoke with the neighbors who claimed they'd recently seen Joseph talking with a woman outside who they believed to be his sister. They also expressed confidence that Joseph was still inside the
residence and hadn't left. Joseph's sister returned to the property and after speaking with the police, she went inside to locate her brother. Joseph finally emerged from the house and claimed he didn't hear
detectives knocking at the door because he'd been sleeping. Investigators asked Joseph where he was during the time of Carlie's disappearance. He explained that he'd been at
home watching the Super Bowl and told them his friends
could verify his story. They showed Joseph an image taken from the surveillance video, and while he admitted that
the man looked like him, he insisted he was nowhere
near the car wash that day. Next, detectives asked
Joseph to roll up his sleeves and they found that he had
tattoos on his forearms, just like the man in the video. They also noticed several minor cuts and scrapes on his hands. As if that wasn't suspicious enough, Joseph also admitted to
borrowing Jeffrey and Naomi's yellow station wagon the
day Carlie went missing. However, he claimed he only drove the car to a nearby marina to look at the water before returning home. Police were feeling pretty confident that they had their guy. But when they spoke with
Naomi, she confirmed his alibi, leading them to second guess everything. Roughly an hour after
detectives arrived at the home, Joseph's probation officers came to assist by conducting a thorough search of his broken down Lincoln Town Car. They quickly located drugs in the vehicle, including multiple syringes and spoons and Joseph was arrested for violating the terms of his probation. Later that same day,
Jeffrey, Joseph's friend, contacted the police with
some unsettling information. He claimed that Naomi had
gotten the dates mixed up on giving her initial
statement to the police, and that while they'd let Joseph
borrow their station wagon on the day in question, he didn't return until
the following morning. Jeffrey also said he'd reset the odometer before Joseph left and when he checked it upon his arrival back home,
over 300 miles had been driven. Not to mention, the inside of
the car appeared disheveled and the back seat was left down. Finally, when asked if he could recall what Joseph had been wearing
when he left the house, he said a mechanics uniform. Jeffrey and Naomi consented
to have their home searched, but authorities found
nothing of evidentiary value. Then after hearing of the arrest, Joseph's mother stormed
down to the auto repair shop where her son worked and demanded to know why the employees had
called the cops on her son. However, despite her angry
outburst, his coworkers felt that she too believed it was
her son on the CCTV tapes. When she proclaimed, "If Joe did this, I will get the truth out of him." Joseph's mother saying "if Joe did this" is an indication that she'd
allowed that possibility into her head and hadn't dismissed it. A mother who 100% believed
her child was innocent would likely say something
that was much more firm, such as, "He didn't do it". Meanwhile, investigators
continued searching the wooded areas around
where they believed Carlie had been abducted, but to no avail. They also contacted forensics personnel from the City of Sarasota Sanitation Site and requested that they
secure the transfer building for an organized search
of the trash the next day. Little did they know that by that time, the search would no longer be necessary. While Joseph was in custody, one of his longtime friends
entered the police station and asked to speak with investigators. Beyond telling them that
the man in the CCTV footage looked very much like Joseph, he informed them of several
occasions when he would talk about his growing desire to assault women. Shortly after this encounter,
detectives transported Joseph from jail to police headquarters
for a formal interview. The following interrogation footage has never been seen before. - I want to just talk. You and I have some things
to talk about, okay? 'Cause some of the things at the house we gotta get straight. That's the most important thing. - Okay. - In this room, it's about the truth. - Mm-hmm.
- Okay? It's the most important thing
that goes on in this room. - [Narrator] Joseph's
arms are wrapped tightly around his torso, which could suggest that he's feeling defensive
and trying to protect himself. In addition, his legs are
crossed at the ankles. His whole body is in a closed position, signifying that he may be uncooperative and may not be willing to
speak with the detective. The initial interview
never even had the chance to get started. - I was already advised
to talk to a lawyer. - [Narrator] After Joseph
shut down the interview by requesting a lawyer, he repeatedly asked to
speak with his family. - I can't talk to you, you
have requested a lawyer. - What about my family,
why can't I call them? You know, I want to talk to
my parents or my brother. - [Narrator] But the detective
ultimately convinced him to meet with an attorney from
the public defender's office. - Can I contact the public
defender's office for you? And they can bring a lawyer down here. - [Narrator] But Joseph
did have one last request. - Hey.
(door thudding) - [Detective] Did you say something? - Do you think that I
could smoke a little? - [Narrator] Joseph may
be so focused on himself and his wants that he thinks he'll be allowed a cigarette
break, despite the fact that police are busy trying
to locate a missing child. - [Detective] But it
is a federal building, it's against the law for
you to smoke in here. - I mean, like outside or something. - [Detective] Not right now. - [Narrator] When the detective says no, Joseph nods his head and smirks, seemingly unconcerned
about the seriousness of the investigation. If Joseph had been cooperative
and willing to talk, the detective might have been more lenient about the no smoking rule. However, the detective has no incentive to make Joseph feel more comfortable and he has no reason to reward him because he's given them nothing, so the request was denied. Then, Joseph attempted to
plead with the detective again. - Can I call my mom? - Not right now. - So when's the guy coming? - Yeah, we're we're
working on it right now. - I need to talk to, you know, my family. See what's going on. - [Narrator] It's
understandable that Joseph wanted to talk to his family, as he likely wanted to get their advice on what he should do, or so he could explain
to them what happened. Joseph was eventually
transported back to jail where he finally got to
call his brother John and what he said to him
confirmed everyone's worst fears. On February 5th, five days
after Carlie disappeared, John contacted authorities and ask them to meet at his residence. When officers arrived,
he told them he knew where to find Carlie's
body and directed them to a wooded area behind a church, just a few miles from her home. According to John, his brother
had confessed to abducting and brutally assaulting
the young girl, but claimed not to remember much of the
incident due to drug use. Joseph may be trying to set up a defense for diminished capacity by
alleging he doesn't recall what occurred and was high on drugs. The specific facts of the case will show whether this is a viable defense or not. While John was in the
presence of investigators, Joseph repeatedly called him
(phone ringing) and he became visibly upset by the things his brother was saying. At one point, John
exclaimed into the phone, "Did you just choke her too hard?" To which Joseph allegedly replied, "Yes". Then he asked if he had tied
her up and Joseph answered that the body was not bound, but he admitted to
violently assaulting her and leaving his DNA behind. Joseph's mother arrived at John's house and stated that Joseph
had also contacted her earlier that day from jail and confessed to murdering Carlie. Police then rushed to the church and they quickly discovered Carlie's body partially hidden in a wooded area. Investigators speculated
that she'd been dragged to that location, based on
the presence of abrasions on her right side. An autopsy later listed her cause of death as a ligature strangulation and noted that she had also
been brutally assaulted. In addition, linear marks
on both of her wrists indicated that she had
been bound at some point Forensic testing revealed
traces of Joseph's DNA and hair fibers on
Carlie's body and clothing and he was subsequently
charged with her murder. Adding to the case against him, a search of the yellow station
wagon revealed two hairs consistent with Carlie's,
as well as several fibers matching the shirt she
was last seen wearing. Investigators theorized
that after borrowing his friend's car, Joseph had
taken a combination of drugs and that's when he noticed
Carlie walking alone. It was just a chance
encounter that caused him to kidnap, assault, and murder
the innocent 11 year old. Meanwhile, the community was outraged that Joseph had been able to
walk free in the first place, after having been convicted 13 times in the last 10 years of various crimes. Furthermore, around a month
before Carlie's abduction, a Florida judge had been
requested by local authorities to issue a warrant for his arrest, based on probation violations. Yet, the judge never
did because allegedly, the police hadn't completed
the necessary paperwork. On October 24th, 2005,
Joseph Smith was found guilty of first degree murder, as
well as separate charges of battery on a child
under 12 and kidnapping. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection for Carlie's murder and life without parole
for the other crimes. However, on July 18th, 2017, a judge vacated Joseph's death sentence based on a new bill that required a unanimous vote by the jury. The jurors in his original
trial had voted 10 to 2 in favor of the death penalty. Joseph ultimately died in prison while awaiting a new
sentencing hearing in 2021.
