Real Name: Robert C. Smith Jr.
Nicknames: Bobby
Location: Long Beach, California
Date: April 9, 1983
Bio
Occupation: Student
Date of Birth: 1961/2
Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Unrevealed
Characteristics: Unrevealed
Case
Details: On April 9, 1983, eleven-year-old Bobby Smith was lured away from his home in Long Beach, California. He has not been seen since.
Suspects: Bobby's mother recalled that he had befriended an older man shortly before he vanished. The man had given him money to buy video games. The man is considered a suspect in Bobby's disappearance.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on April 29, 1985 as part of Missing... Have You Seen This Person? Special #1.
Results: Solved. In January of 1985, before the special aired, Bobby was found alive and well in Rhode Island. He was immediately returned to Long Beach where he was reunited with his family. His kidnapper, David R. Collins, was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual assault. He allegedly had lured Bobby away after giving him money for video games. He then kept Bobby and raised him as his son. The two were discovered after a car used in a fatal crash was linked to Collins.
In May of 1986, Collins was found guilty of kidnapping and sexual assault charges. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Links:
- Family, son in emotional reunion
- 'Welcome Home, Bobby' : Abducted Boy, 13, Is Reunited With Family
- Bobby Smith: Happy ending to a missing child case - UPI Archives
- Kidnapping In California Is Finally Untangled
- A Missing Boy Returns After a Strange Odyssey | PEOPLE.com
- Stolen children are profiled
- Drifter Sentenced to Life in Kidnap of Long Beach Boy
- State v. Collins (1988)
- Photo of Bobby and his father reunited