Nearly 15 years after Michelle Parker vanished in Orlando, Florida, prosecutors have moved to keep the evidence behind her ex-fiancé's murder charge under seal while the investigation continues, local outlets reported.

Parker, a 33-year-old mother of three, was last seen on November 17, 2011, after dropping off the twins she shared with Dale Smith Jr. at his home, Orlando police said. That same day, a prerecorded episode of the television show 'The People's Court' featuring Parker and Smith aired nationally; the dispute was over a $5,000 engagement ring, and Parker had described Smith on the programme as malicious and vindictive, according to reporting of the episode. Her vehicle was found abandoned in an Orlando parking lot the next day, and her cellphone was later recovered from a lake south of Orlando. Her body has never been found.

Smith was named a suspect early in the investigation. Orlando Police Chief Eric Smith, who is not related to the defendant, said Dale Smith was the last known person to see or hear from Parker, the New York Post reported from the police announcement. For years no charge was filed. Police say that changed after investigators spent the past year on a fresh review: they expanded the team, re-examined testimony and conflicting statements Smith had given over the years, and used newer digital forensic tools on phones, computers and vehicles, which produced more detailed location data and communications, including text messages, detectives said.

On October 14, 2026, Orlando police arrested Smith, 55, at his workplace on one charge of second-degree murder. He appeared in court the next day, entered a written plea of not guilty, and was ordered held without bond in the Orange County Jail while his lawyer prepares a bond motion, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The arrest affidavit runs to 46 pages, according to his attorney, Rajan Joshi, and a court ordered it sealed. On Friday, prosecutors asked the court to modify the sealing order, News 6 reported, and a new state motion says the affidavit should remain sealed until all witnesses have been interviewed amid the ongoing investigation, WESH 2 News reported.

The new filing also contains two details that had not been reported before, according to local television reporting of the filing: less than two weeks before his arrest, Smith's son went to the Orlando Police Department to ask whether his father was still a suspect in Parker's case, and Smith himself had purchased a plane ticket in the days before the arrest. Prosecutors have not publicly explained the significance they attach to either detail, and the sealed affidavit means the full evidence behind the charge is not public.

Smith's lawyer, Rajan Joshi, has called the case circumstantial and said he saw little that was new or incriminating in the affidavit, including in the text messages it mentions. Joshi said Smith initially cooperated with investigators, voluntarily answered questions and allowed searches of his home, and maintains his innocence. Parker's mother, Yvonne Stewart, said after the arrest announcement that she would love for Smith to tell the family where Parker is. The second-degree murder charge is an allegation; Smith is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. Sources: WESH 2 News, October 2026, reporting the state motion to keep the affidavit sealed until witnesses are interviewed and the filing's details on the son's inquiry and the plane ticket; News 6 / ClickOrlando via Brightgram, October 2026, reporting the sealed affidavit and prosecutors' Friday request to modify the sealing order; Orlando Sentinel reporting via local outlets, October 15, 2026, on the not-guilty plea, no-bond order and attorney Rajan Joshi's comments; Courtroom Insider / New York Post, October 19, 2026, reporting the Orlando Police Department's October 14 arrest announcement, Chief Eric Smith's statement and the digital-forensics account.