MASSILLON, Ohio — A 43 year old cold case is getting a second look.
Massillon Police have reopened the investigation into the kidnapping and murder of 10-year-old Debbie Smith, who was abducted from a street carnival in the summer of 1983.
Terry May, Debbie's uncle, has spent more than four decades holding onto memories of his niece.
"She was a wonderful little girl," May said. "Beautiful little girl, ambitious, active all the time."
Debbie disappeared in June 1983 after attending a street carnival in Massillon. She was diabetic and relied on insulin. After she got off a ride, her family could not find her. Someone had kidnapped her in broad daylight.
"It was one of those unfortunate and unbelievable things that happened at a freakin' street carnival in Massillon," May said.
Her disappearance set off a desperate search, including on Bernard Street in Massillon where she lived with her grandparents. Neighbor Mary Lytle remembers police swarming the area.
"It was horrible. That's what I remember. They questioned everybody on the street," Lytle said.
In August 1983, a canoeist found Debbie's body in a wooded area near the Tuscarawas River near Bolivar in Tuscarawas County. Investigators say someone stabbed her to death.
"It was devastating," May said.
May had largely given up hope that the case would ever be solved.
"Someone kidnapped her, yes, took her, and they haven't found out who is responsible yet to this day," May said.
In 2024, Massillon Police received an anonymous voicemail asking about Debbie's murder.
That tip prompted the case to be reopened.
Detective Shaun Dadisman is now reviewing boxes of evidence — reports and pictures — searching for new clues.
"She's a victim of a gruesome crime and she's not with us today," Dadisman said. "What justice does she get out of all of this?"
Investigators are taking another look at Robert Buell, who was a suspect in 1983. Buell was executed in 2002 for kidnapping and strangling 11-year-old Krista Harrison in Marshallville in 1982. After his death, Buell was also linked by DNA to the 1981 murder of 12-year-old Tina Harmon, who was last seen in Lodi. Buell was also convicted of raping two women.
A few months ago, Dadisman sent some of Debbie's clothing, along with other items found at the crime scene, to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, but DNA testing did not produce a match to Buell or anyone else.
The possibility that Debbie's killer could still be alive remains on the table.
"That is true. It's very possible," Dadisman said.
Dadisman hopes to submit additional DNA evidence and conduct more interviews as he remains determined to find answers for Debbie's family.
May is grateful to investigators for not giving up on trying to solve the high-profile crime.
"Thank you very much for still caring and looking into this situation, that tragedy that happened years and years ago," May said.
Anyone with information on the 1983 murder of Debbie Smith is asked to call Massillon Police at 330-809-0881.
