EPISODE · May 14, 2026 · 1H 15M
Five Minutes Away - The Case of Sage Smith
from Vanished Voices, The Overlooked · host Not Today Studios
On the evening of November 20th, 2012 — the night before Thanksgiving — 19-year-old Sage Smith stepped out of her Charlottesville, Virginia apartment to meet someone for a date. She woke up her roommate just long enough to say she'd be back later. She had plans for the holiday. She had a surprise visit lined up for her stepsisters. For the first time in her life, things were falling into place — her own apartment, a job, cosmetology school, and the freedom to live openly as the person she'd always been. A family member spotted her that evening, walking toward downtown, talking on her phone. She said she'd be "there" in five minutes. She never arrived. Her phone went dark. Calls went straight to voicemail. Thanksgiving came and went without her. And what began as a missing persons investigation would slowly unravel into something far more disturbing — a web of contradictory stories, a person of interest who vanished, a family forced to run their own investigation, and a police department that, by its own admission, dropped the ball. In this episode, we walk through the life Sage built after a childhood in foster care, the night everything changed, the man whose story never stayed the same, and the thirteen-year fight by a grandmother, a father, and a community who refused to let Sage be forgotten. This case has secrets. It has people who aren't telling the truth. And as of 2025, it has a break that nobody saw coming. Sage Smith has been missing since November 20, 2012. If you have any information, contact the Charlottesville Police Department at (434) 970-3373, email [email protected], or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at (434) 977-4000. A $20,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest or the recovery of Sage's remains. To see more about this case, as well as the sources used to create this episode, visit our Blog Here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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What this episode covers
On the night before Thanksgiving 2012, 19-year-old Sage Smith left her Charlottesville, Virginia apartment to meet someone for a date. She told a friend she'd be back later that evening. A family member spotted her walking toward downtown, heard her say she'd be "there" in five minutes — and then Sage was gone. Her phone went silent. She never came home. What started as a missing persons case would eventually be reclassified as a homicide — but after more than thirteen years, no arrest has been made and Sage has never been found.
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Five Minutes Away - The Case of Sage Smith
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