PURE EVIL ON A SUPER SUNDAY

It is hard to imagine anything more horrifying than the horror evoked by these four simple, yet shattering words "My daughter is missing.".

No doubt just a few hours earlier on this typical Super Bowl Sunday, all thoughts had been on the big game between the Patriots and the Panthers. Now, suddenly in a small Sarasota, Florida home, all attention shifted to the voice of the 911 operator, "911, what's the location of the emergency?" In a voice trembling with anxiety, a deeply distraught mother responds, "My daughter is missing."

It was early in the evening on February 1st, 2004, Super Sunday, when 11-year-old Carlie Brucia's disappearance began to unfold. Carlie, a spirited and vivacious 11-year-old, had spent the prior night at a friend's house. Carlie's friends’ mother, had reached out to Carlie's mother, to confirm that it was okay for Carlie to walk home. Carlie's mom Susan responded, expressing concern about Carlie walking along the bustling Bee Ridge Road and sent her husband to pick her up. A journey that, unfortunately, ended in vain. Carlie's stepfather, Steve, desperately retraced her steps through the labyrinth of streets all the while with a palpable look of desperation in his eyes. Time was slipping through his fingers as Carlie's whereabouts remained a mystery.

The community rallied, as the narrative became a pulsating race against time. The chilling notion that something was dreadfully amiss hung heavy in the air, spurring everyone into action. It was midday of the following day, when police bloodhounds tracking Brucia’s scent came upon Evie’s Car Wash on Ridge Road. The dogs tracked the scent behind the car wash before it suddenly vanished. With every passing tick of the clock, the tension thickened.

The story spiraled further into darkness, as the investigation soon took a chilling turn. Surveillance footage from the carwash revealed a dark-haired man with tattoos (a man who would later be identified by the police as Smith) engaged 11-year-old Carlie in a brief conversation in front of the establishment. The grainy visuals then captured the chilling moment as Smith guided Carlie away, gripping her arm, and vanished from the surveillance's scope.

The video footage was immediately released to the media and an Amber Alert was issued. Two informants, having recognized Smith from the television broadcasts of the security camera tape called police. Smith was already in custody at the time, having been arrested on February 3 on an unrelated parole violation. Smith initially refused to speak with investigators about Brucia's abduction until February 5, when he finally revealed where he had hidden her body, behind a nearby church

A pink backpack, which Brucia had been wearing at the time of her disappearance, also tied Smith to Carlie. A yellow 1992 Buick Century station wagon, which Smith had been driving at the time of Brucia’s kidnapping, was also captured by surveillance recordings in the car wash parking lot minutes before she was taken.

Four days after the horror began, Brucia’s remains were found near a church, just a few miles from where the 11-year-old was originally abducted. She was found nude from the waist down, except for a single sock that was on one of her feet. According to an autopsy, Brucia had been sexually assaulted and died of strangulation.

Although Joseph Smith was found dead in his prison cell on July 26, 2021, at the age of 55, while awaiting his execution, the poignant tale of Carlie Brucia's abduction and murder is a stark reminder of the darkness that can seep into the most unsuspecting corners of existence. Grief over Carlie's lost potential, anger at the predator's unforgivable actions, and a lingering unease will always remain with us.