Pretty Scary with Clair Buckley
Aug 28, 2026 · 31 min · 13 segments
This is the story of Judy Smith. Who planned a lovely holiday with her husband. She left her hotel one morning with plans to spend the day sightseeing, before meeting her husband that evening—but she…
Clair BuckleyHost
She left her hotel one morning with plans to spend the day sightseeing before meeting her husband that evening, but she never came back.
What follows is a bizarre trail of sightings, unanswered questions, and a journey that would leave investigators struggling to understand what happened.
Judy Smith was a 50-year-old woman who lived in Newton, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, with her husband, Jeffrey Smith.
The two actually met when Judy was assigned to care for Jeffrey's elderly father after he had just come out of surgery.
The two started a relationship and were together for 10 years before they got married in September 1996.
They each had previous marriages and both had adult children, and after a decade together, every one of their family and friends were very happy that they decided to make it official.
They were each very independent and had budding careers, but would spend as much time together as possible.
She was quite a seasoned traveler and had made many solo trips as well as trips with her kids and family members.
Even if it was just a new town or city, she would walk around, see the sights, learn about the place she was in.
Now, just five months after their wedding, Jeffrey had a big pharmaceutical conference to attend for work, and that was in Philadelphia.
And Judy, of course, was very happy to accompany him and see what sights Philadelphia had for her.
And so on April the 9th, 1997, Judy and her husband packed up their bags and headed to the airport to catch their flight.
Jeffrey would quite often have to go to these conferences, and at this particular one, he was actually speaking on a panel.
Judy would often tag along, like I said, just to visit a new place, but it was also a fun way for the couple to spend time together.
These conferences were usually an all-day thing but often would be followed by a cocktail party or a dinner in the evening, and they were almost always in pretty nice hotels.
So the pair set off, looking forward to a nice few days together with plans to actually head over to New Jersey after their stay in Philadelphia to visit some friends for another few days.
She left her hotel one morning with plans to spend the day sightseeing before meeting her husband that evening, but she never came back.
What follows is a bizarre trail of sightings, unanswered questions, and a journey that would leave investigators struggling to understand what happened.
Judy Smith was a 50-year-old woman who lived in Newton, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, with her husband, Jeffrey Smith.
The two actually met when Judy was assigned to care for Jeffrey's elderly father after he had just come out of surgery.
The two started a relationship and were together for 10 years before they got married in September 1996.
They each had previous marriages and both had adult children, and after a decade together, every one of their family and friends were very happy that they decided to make it official.
They were each very independent and had budding careers, but would spend as much time together as possible.
She was quite a seasoned traveler and had made many solo trips as well as trips with her kids and family members.
Even if it was just a new town or city, she would walk around, see the sights, learn about the place she was in.
Now, just five months after their wedding, Jeffrey had a big pharmaceutical conference to attend for work, and that was in Philadelphia.
And Judy, of course, was very happy to accompany him and see what sights Philadelphia had for her.
And so on April the 9th, 1997, Judy and her husband packed up their bags and headed to the airport to catch their flight.
Jeffrey would quite often have to go to these conferences, and at this particular one, he was actually speaking on a panel.
Judy would often tag along, like I said, just to visit a new place, but it was also a fun way for the couple to spend time together.
These conferences were usually an all-day thing but often would be followed by a cocktail party or a dinner in the evening, and they were almost always in pretty nice hotels.
So the pair set off, looking forward to a nice few days together with plans to actually head over to New Jersey after their stay in Philadelphia to visit some friends for another few days.
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