Member-only story
Information is obtained from the Where are they? Podcast and other online sources as cited**
Billy Smolinski headed to Florida on a vacation in August of 2004. He went with his girlfriend of one year, Madeline Gleason.
But the vacation didn’t go as planned.
Madeline was acting weird and after returning home on August 22, Billy and Madeline broke up.
On August 23, Billy was back at work as a tow truck driver, a little down about the breakup, but co-workers said he was doing fine.
Later that day he ran into his prior long-term ex-girlfriend, Mary Ellen, and they made plans to get together the following weekend.
That would never happen.
On August 24, Billy asked his neighbor to watch to his dog, saying he was going out of town. When the neighbor went to go check on the dog the next day, he couldn’t find the hidden key to access the house. Worried about the dog, he contact Billy’s ex-girlfriend since she and Billy had owned the dog together originally.
The ex, Mary Ellen, said it was strange that he didn’t ask her to take the dog as he normally would have.
Soon, everyone realized that Billy couldn’t be found anywhere, although his truck and belongings were left behind.
Authorities refused to look for Billy, saying he was an adult and since he told someone he was going out of town, there wasn’t anything they could do. So the family looked on their own, finding no sign of Billy anywhere.
Where is Billy Paul Smolinski Jr.?
Billy Smolinski was born January 14, 1973, and grew up in the Waterbury, Connecticut area. He has a younger sister and was also very close to his parents, Janice and William Sr.
Billy was the kind of person who loved outdoor sports and activities. He was also known to be fun and spontaneous, and generally very likable. He enjoyed hunting and just being outside and was always a hard worker.
Billy was also working, usually multiple jobs.
At age 26, Billy bought his own home in Waterbury, Connecticut.
