Always Hope

TODD MATTHEWS (Missing Pieces Host): This is Missing Pieces. I'm Todd Matthews and tonight we have Jan Smolinski. Hello, Jan.

JANICE SMOLINSKI (Guest): Hi ,Todd. How are you doing?

TODD: I'm doing really good. I actually got to meet Jan last month, in August, in Baltimore, and her husband, Bill. It was great to finally meet you guys.

JANICE: Oh, it was nice meeting you, Todd, too. It's been what...a couple years since we've been talking...

TODD: Yeah.

JANICE: ...through email and on the phone?

TODD: At least.

JANICE: And finally meeting in person, it was nice.

TODD: Yeah, it was. It seemed like we had such a short time. We were there for a DNA conference of sorts but we had time to catch up, and it seemed like we really had time to talk about a lot of things. I think everybody knows that you're the mother of missing Billy Smolinski.

JANICE: Right.

TODD: And according to your website, he's been missing for 1,490 days, 17 hours, 13 minutes, and 8 seconds.

JANICE: Right. Yes. And we are making headway in the case though, and I think, soon, we will be finding him.

TODD: You think so?

JANICE: Yeah, well, according to the authorities, they're getting close, so we're keeping our fingers crossed and hopefully we're going to bring him home.

TODD: Wow, after all this time.

JANICE: Yeah, well, they had a big dig for him about a month ago and they dug about 150 feet by 150 feet, 8 to 12 feet deep, and four back hoes, and local, state, and federal authorities were digging for him. We were able to stand over and watch for a couple hours and see exactly what they were doing. Just recently, this past Friday, they searched a house, and they had a warrant to search a house, and I don't know exactly what they retrieved, if anything, but it looks pretty promising that I think that they're getting pretty close and we may be able to bring his remains home soon.

TODD: Wow, that's a lot to deal with.

JANICE: Yes, it's...you know it's...I only hope that for other missing persons' families who feel their missing loved one is a homicide, we need to get answers.

TODD: Now, we taped our first conversation more than a year ago.

JANICE: Uh-huh.