Dashad Smith, known as Sage, was 19 when he was last seen in Charlottesville, Virginia, on the evening of November 20, 2012. Having recently moved into an apartment with roommates after aging out of foster care, he told a roommate he planned to meet someone and was last seen in the 500 block of West Main Street. When he missed Thanksgiving dinner two days later, relatives reported him missing.

Early investigative focus fell on acquaintance Erik McFadden, who phone records show communicated with Smith around the time he disappeared and who was believed to have arranged to meet Smith near the Amtrak station. McFadden gave inconsistent accounts to police, later admitting in an email to his then-girlfriend that he had seen Smith and left after others approached them. McFadden then left town and missed a scheduled interview with detectives; his girlfriend reported him missing four days after Smith vanished.

The case was reclassified as a homicide in December 2016. In late 2025 investigators located and interviewed McFadden in Los Angeles and gathered new information now under review. Anyone who knew Dashad Sage Smith or who has information about his movements on November 20, 2012, is asked to come forward.