Seventeen-year-old Jeannie Smith disappeared from Reno, Nevada, after her last known sighting on October 27, 1978, at the Circus-Circus Hotel where she worked. Her skeletal remains were recovered in a shallow grave in Lemmon Valley on November 2, 1979. An autopsy determined cause of death as blunt force trauma.

Her body showed further disturbing signs: the zipper on her jeans had been forcibly opened, her underwear and identification were missing, and medical tape was found in her hair, consistent with a possible blindfold and a sexual motive. Her grave was found near the location where Julia Woodward was murdered earlier that year, drawing concern about a possible link between the cases.

In 2019 authorities arrested Charles Gary Sullivan in Arizona in connection with Julia Woodward’s murder and identified him as a person of interest in Jeannie Smith’s death; a composite of a man seen with Jeannie at work resembled a period photograph of Sullivan. No formal charge in Jeannie’s case has been announced and the investigation remains open.

If anyone knew Jeannie, worked at Circus-Circus in late 1978, or has information about a man known as Chuck who was seen with her, please come forward.