William Billy Smolinski, Jr., was 31 when he disappeared from Waterbury, Connecticut, in late summer 2004. On August 24 he asked a neighbor to look after his German Shepherd, Harley, saying he was heading north to look at a car; that was the last confirmed sighting. His truck was later found parked at the end of his driveway with his wallet and keys inside, and his bank accounts showed no activity.

Initial treatment of the case as a voluntary departure shifted as family concerns grew. A man named Chad Hanson later told police that Smolinski had been murdered by Shaun Karpiuk and that Hanson had helped bury the body. Searches in Seymour, Naugatuck State Forest and Oxford produced no remains. Karpiuk died of a drug overdose in 2005, and Hanson was convicted of making false statements to police.

The family’s advocacy prompted federal legislation known as Billy’s Law to improve missing person and unidentified remains databases. The case is widely believed to be a homicide but remains officially unsolved. Did anyone who knew Billy or his routines around Waterbury in 2004 notice anything out of the ordinary?