Key facts
- Name: Dashad Smith (“Sage”)
- Born: December 13, 1992
- Age at disappearance: 19
- Last seen: November 20, 2012, evening
- Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
- Height / build: ~5’10”, transgender woman (assigned male at birth), Black
- Status: Still missing — reclassified as homicide (2016); body never found
- Investigating agency: Charlottesville Police Department
The date
On the evening of November 20, 2012, nineteen-year-old Dashad Smith — who went by Sage — left to meet a man she’d connected with on a dating app. Sage was a transgender woman living in Charlottesville, Virginia. She told people where she was going.
She never came home. She never called. Her phone went dead. In the days that followed, her family and friends searched, posted, pleaded. The man she’d gone to meet became the focus of the investigation almost immediately.
In 2016, the Charlottesville Police Department reclassified Sage’s disappearance as a homicide. No body. No charges. No answers.
Who Sage was
Dashad “Sage” Smith was 19, Black, transgender, and — by every account from those who loved her — vibrant and full of life. She lived in Charlottesville and was part of its LGBTQ community. Her family has fought for more than a decade to keep her case visible, in a system they have said too often looks away from missing Black trans women.
Her grandmother, Lolita Smith, became the public face of the search. “Somebody knows something,” the family has said, year after year. In 2022, on the tenth anniversary, they were still saying it. In 2025, they were still saying it.
The investigation
From the start, police focused on the man Sage had arranged to meet that night: Erik McFadden. He was questioned early in the investigation. He has never been charged with any crime in connection with Sage’s disappearance, and he is presumed innocent unless and until a court finds otherwise.
The case went quiet for years — the kind of quiet that families of the missing learn to dread. McFadden himself vanished; in June 2019, his mother had him reported missing, and for years detectives chased leads across Baltimore, the Carolinas, Atlanta, New York, and the West Coast. Then, in October 2025, Charlottesville detectives tracked him to Los Angeles, where he was attempting to legally change his name to “Shiloh Mathis.” On November 20, 2025 — the thirteenth anniversary — Chief Michael Kochis announced that detectives had conducted an hour-long interview with McFadden. No charges followed. No body was found. Kochis emphasized McFadden remains a person of interest, not a suspect.
The reclassification to homicide in 2016 was the police department’s formal acknowledgment of what the family had believed from the first weeks: Sage did not walk away from her life. Someone took it.
Sage’s case has been covered by The Daily Progress, NBC29, The Schilling Show, and national LGBTQ media — often framed as an example of the cases that don’t get the resources or attention they deserve. Her family has never accepted the silence.
Theories: what might have happened
Homicide connected to the date. The police reclassification in 2016 reflects the investigative consensus: Sage was killed, likely by someone she met that night. Supports it: the abrupt total silence after a planned meeting, the absence of any voluntary-departure indicators, the homicide reclassification. Unresolved: no body, no charges, no confirmed account of that night.
What the October 2025 interview means. Investigators re-interviewing a person of interest thirteen years on suggests the case is not dormant — but an interview is not an arrest, and nothing has been announced since. Anyone named in connection with this case is presumed innocent.
Have information?
Contact the Charlottesville Police Department at (434) 970-3280. In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- ~1993 — Dashad “Sage” Smith is born.
- November 20, 2012, evening — Leaves to meet a man from a dating app in Charlottesville; never returns.
- November 2012 — Reported missing; Erik McFadden questioned; never charged.
- 2016 — Charlottesville PD reclassifies the case as a homicide.
- 2022 — Tenth anniversary; family continues public campaign.
- October 2025 — Detectives track McFadden to Los Angeles (he was attempting to change his name); hour-long interview announced November 20, 2025.
- Today — Still missing; body never found; no charges.
FAQ
Is Sage Smith still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Dashad “Sage” Smith has been missing for nearly 14 years.
Was Sage Smith ever found?
No. No trace of Sage has ever been found.
Why was Sage Smith’s case reclassified as a homicide?
In 2016, the Charlottesville Police Department reclassified the disappearance as a homicide — a formal acknowledgment that investigators believe Sage was killed, though no body has been found and no one has been charged.
Who is Erik McFadden?
The man Sage had arranged to meet on the night she disappeared. He was questioned early in the investigation and interviewed again in October 2025. He has never been charged in connection with the case and is presumed innocent.
How old would Sage Smith be today?
Sage was 19 in November 2012 — she would be 33 now.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Anyone with information should contact the Charlottesville Police Department at (434) 970-3280.
Corrections (October 2026 verification pass)
- Born: “~1993” → December 13, 1992. Per the CUE Center for Missing Persons case listing.
- October 2025 development expanded. Verified: McFadden was tracked to Los Angeles in October 2025 while attempting to change his name to “Shiloh Mathis”; the hour-long interview was announced by Chief Michael Kochis on November 20, 2025 (Cville Right Now, CBS19). Added that McFadden himself had been a reported missing person since June 2019.
- “Dating app” detail: the meeting is described in public sources as prearranged (train station, West Main Street); the dating-app framing follows the file’s cited local coverage and was not independently confirmed.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Charlottesville Police Department (434-970-3280).
- News: The Daily Progress (Charlottesville); NBC29; The Schilling Show (Oct 2025, McFadden interview).
- Reference: The Charley Project; NamUs; National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.