A teenage Indiana University student disappeared without a trace after sending encrypted text messages to his sister’s phone and then vanished. Just days later, her body was pulled from a nearby lake, but the discovery raised more concerns than it answered. The first half of the “Still a Mystery: Indiana Unsolved” episode on Investigation Discovery focuses on the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Joseph Smedley and the events that unfolded before his passing. If that’s also something you’re interested in, don’t worry; We have what you need.
Joseph Smedley
How did Joseph Smedley die?
Joseph Smedley II had a happy, bright, and outgoing personality growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana. When he was a child, his parents divorced and since then he has had no contact with them. On the other hand, Joseph maintained a close relationship with his sister Vivianne Bernas and communicated with her almost daily. In 2015, the person who had just turned 20 was a sophomore at Indiana University. He planned to get a degree in biochemistry and lived off campus with other students who belonged to the same fraternity.
On September 28, 2015, Vivianne made the decision to report Joseph as missing after being unable to reach him by phone or email. The night before was the last time she had had a conversation with her brother. On September 27, 2015, around 11:30 p.m., the family learned that Joseph was last seen by his roommates. The next day, October 2, 2015, a fisherman from Griffy Lake, Indiana discovered Joseph’s body floating in the water. He was wearing all his clothes and carried a pair of binoculars around his neck. The verdict returned by the coroner was that Joseph had committed suicide by drowning and that was the way of death. According to the complaint, Joseph was carrying a bag on his back containing approximately 66 pounds of rocks.
Was Joseph Smedley killed?
According to the show, about a week before Joseph Smedley disappeared, Vivianne had received a call from her former landlord about a debt he owed, and he had until September 28, 2015 to settle it. This all happened about a week before Joseph Smedley disappeared. Vivianne had a conversation with Joseph on the evening of September 27, and during this conversation, Joseph mentioned that he would deliver the check the next day. On the other hand, it never materialized. Vivianne received a disturbing text from Joseph’s phone around 4 a.m. on September 28.
It said “Viv” in the message. I love you. I decided to leave the country. I preserve your safety and ensure your protection by not explaining why. Do not hesitate to call this number to try to reach me because it will not pass. I will not be able to contact you until I am settled abroad. I am so grateful to you, Viv, and I will always love you. And I’m sorry about that. Because he didn’t even have a passport, Vivianne initially thought it was a joke about something else. However, she grew concerned when she couldn’t get in touch with the young student the next day.
The family later discovered Joseph had failed to show up for school on September 28, and his housemates said they had seen him before they went the night before. Smedley’s handwriting was found on a note that was placed on Joseph’s bed and addressed to him as he left the nation. Vivianne was however convinced that it was not her brother who was the author of the play. She claimed that Joseph didn’t like people using his surname, despite the fact that their handwriting didn’t match.
Then, in a tragic turn of events, Joseph’s body was discovered at Griffy Lake, which ended the search but raised even more concerns. The coroner determined the death to be a suicide nearly two months after the body was recovered. However, the autopsy was performed by a third-party medical examiner at the request of the family. The results were shocking to say the least. According to the show, Joseph had bleeding in his back, and the doctor speculated that an accident or an unidentified cause of death could have caused Joseph’s death. Vivianne also said authorities refused to share information with the pathologist, which made it harder for them to get the answers they were looking for. Moreover, those close to Joseph thought it highly unlikely that he had attempted suicide by weighing himself down with rocks.
Information from Joseph’s smartphone indicated that he was traveling in a vehicle at the time. Vivianne claims he did not own a working automobile, suggesting he may have been in the company of another person prior to his death. Additionally, the data revealed that Joseph’s phone only had outbound communications between 11 p.m. on September 27 and 4 a.m. on September 28. Vivianne went on to say, “Now for you people who like to use your cell phone, this is a long time. time to say nothing. Vivianne was referring to the fact that some people like to talk on their mobile devices.
Law enforcement officials insisted that Joseph committed suicide, but Joseph’s family does not believe them. They advocated for the investigation to be reopened and a petition with over 100,000 signatures calling for the investigation to be reopened was created. In July 2020, Vivianne said, “We are still taking care of Joseph. We have not moved and we will not stop demanding justice from him until we feel that what happened to him has not received the attention it deserves.
The death of Joseph Smedley
When Joseph left
It was Vivianne, Joseph’s sister, who made the report on September 28, 2015, stating that she could not locate her brother. At 4:15 a.m. that morning, she received a strange text from Joseph’s phone that he loved her and was about to leave the country. The message also stated that he was about to leave the country. Joseph’s phone was used to send the message to the recipient. Furthermore, the message instructed her to refrain from any effort to get in contact with him, as it indicated that he would contact her once he was established in his new nation. She originally believed he was probably joking about it; but, after he failed to respond to her attempts to get in touch with him, she became concerned and contacted the authorities.
When detectives interviewed Joseph’s roommates, who were also his fraternity brothers, the roommates indicated that they had last seen Joseph late on September 27, 2015, the night before. This information was provided during interviews with the investigators. According to the story they tell, they went to Griffy Lake with Joseph to try to observe a lunar eclipse which is also known as the “blood moon”, but because of the cloud cover they didn’t. couldn’t see much, so they went back to their fraternity house to try again the next night. This is the version of events that they tell. Everyone in the house reportedly went to their respective rooms well before midnight, and that was the last time any of the other residents saw Joseph, according to other people who lived there.
It was revealed, during a search of Joseph’s bedroom at the fraternity house, that the majority of his items were still there; however, his cell phone had been seized. Additionally, there was a handwritten note that contained a message remarkably comparable to the enigmatic text Vivianne had received. It was indicated that there was no need for Joseph’s roommates to try to contact him as he left the country. Members of Joseph’s brotherhood reported that the name “Smedley,” which was the name that was signed on the message, was the name they gave him most often.
After reviewing the note, Vivianne shared her assessment that the handwriting did not appear to be Joseph’s. She stated that she did not believe it was hers. Despite the fact that Joseph was right-handed, she judged that it appeared to have been written by someone writing with the left hand. It is also important to note that Joseph was not known to have a passport at the time, which would have made it difficult for him to travel the world at the time. This fact must be taken into consideration. Moreover, according to Vivianne, it was out of place for Joseph to shirk responsibilities such as his college education and paying the rent he owed on a former residence for which Vivianne had co-signed the lease. Vivianne said this because Joseph had co-signed the lease for this residence with Vivianne. Vivianne said this due to Joseph co-signing the lease on their last property.
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