crime
by Crime EnthusiastsThat evening, Macin had a scheduled driving lesson with his father, something his parents were eager for him to do so he could become more independent. However, Macin had always been open about his fear of driving. For someone with social anxiety, the idea of navigating traffic, making split-second decisions, and being responsible behind the wheel could be terrifying. Learning to drive was just another source of stress added to everything else he was already coping with. That night, he canceled his scheduled lesson, telling his father he had a headache and wasn’t feeling well.
Later in the evening, around 8:30 PM, Macin stayed in his room, seemingly keeping to himself. Tracey, still enforcing the household rules, reminded him that electronics were not allowed after 10:00 PM on school nights. While it was a rule that had been in place for some time, the return of his father had led to an overall stricter enforcement of household expectations. This, combined with his recent stressors, may have left Macin feeling frustrated or overwhelmed. It’s possible that, in that moment, he was struggling more than he let on.
On the evening of August 31, 2015, Tracy arrived home from work and, as she usually did, went to check on her son, Mason. She found him lying in his bed with the lights off, which immediately made her concerned. Mason had canceled his scheduled driving lesson with his father earlier in the day, citing that he didn’t feel well. When Tracy asked if he was okay, Mason explained that he had a headache and was planning to rest. Tracy, believing her son, assumed that he was simply feeling unwell, perhaps from anxiety or the stress of everything he was managing at that time.
Mason had always been a sensitive and reserved young man, and it wasn’t out of character for him to experience physical symptoms, such as a headache, as a result of his emotional state. His social anxiety and the pressure from various aspects of his life, including his father’s return and the rules starting to become more strict, may have contributed to his physical discomfort. Tracy, trusting Mason, gave him a kiss on the head and reassured him that she hoped he felt better soon. After that, she left his room, giving him some space and privacy to relax and unwind.
The family had a strict household rule about electronics being turned off at 10:00 p.m. on school nights to ensure that Mason focused on his studies and got enough sleep. Tracy had implemented this rule to help Mason avoid distractions, but it wasn’t always easy to enforce. To ensure compliance, Tracy had made a habit of unplugging the internet router each night, sometimes even hiding the cords to prevent Mason from reconnecting. On this particular night, though, Tracy was exhausted from her workday and, without much thought, she unplugged the router but left the internet cord behind. She didn’t take it with her as she usually would, possibly because she was simply too tired to bother with the extra step.
Around 10:00 p.m., as per routine, she had unplugged the router and headed to bed with Darren. They assumed Mason would follow the rules, just as he usually did, and that the night would proceed as normal. However, later that night, around 1:30 a.m., Darren woke up and noticed something unusual: he saw a faint light coming from under Mason’s bedroom door. At first, it seemed odd since it was well past the curfew, and Tracy had already unplugged the router, expecting Mason to be in bed and away from his electronics.
Darren’s curiosity got the better of him, so he got up to check on Mason. When he opened the door, he found Mason sitting at his desk, watching anime on his laptop. This was a clear violation of the household rule, and Darren was immediately frustrated. He had already noticed Mason’s tendency to push boundaries, but this felt like an act of defiance.
Mason, knowing that he had broken the rule, didn’t put up any resistance. He didn’t argue or make excuses, likely realizing that there was no point. Instead, he silently handed over his laptop and cell phone to his father. This passive acceptance of his punishment seemed unusual, considering Mason had always been deeply connected to his electronics and anime, which were his escapes from the world. For him to quietly surrender without any protest could indicate how aware he was of his mistake and how much he might have wanted to avoid conflict.
Darren took both devices back to his room, presumably to keep them out of Mason’s reach for the rest of the night. The confiscation of these items, especially his laptop and phone, was a big deal for Mason. His passion for anime and gaming was deeply ingrained in his routine, and having those outlets taken away could have been frustrating for him. But the lack of argument or resistance from Mason during this exchange was striking, as it didn’t fit his usual personality. Perhaps he simply accepted that there was no point in arguing—after all, it was 1:30 in the morning, and he knew he shouldn’t have been online in the first place.
Earlier that night, around 12:30 a.m., Mason had deleted all of his search history on his laptop. This action added another layer of mystery to the situation, suggesting that Mason might have been trying to hide what he had been doing online. Whether he was attempting to conceal his late-night activities or just did so out of habit is unclear. However, it’s a curious detail, as it hints at a level of secrecy and possibly guilt.
This chain of events—Mason’s cancellation of the driving lesson, his late-night use of electronics, his silent compliance with Darren’s request, and his deletion of search history—paint a picture of a young man who may have been overwhelmed by various pressures and expectations. At that point in the evening, Mason had been navigating a complex web of emotions: frustration with new rules, fear of driving, social anxiety, and possibly more. But despite all of these things, he didn’t express his feelings openly. Instead, he withdrew into his room, followed the rules quietly, and kept his thoughts to himself, possibly even retreating further into his online world of anime and gaming as a way to escape.
On September 1, 2015, the morning seemed like any other until the strange events of the day began to unfold. Around 7:00 a.m., Darren went to knock on Mason’s bedroom door, expecting him to be up and ready for school. However, when he didn’t receive a response, he assumed Mason was still sleeping and decided to check again later. By 7:30 a.m., Tracy was up and about, getting ready for her day when she heard Mason moving around in the kitchen, likely preparing breakfast. At 7:40 a.m., both Tracy and Darren heard the garage door open and close, leading them to believe that Mason was heading out to catch the school bus just around the corner.
However, things quickly took a confusing turn. The school bus arrived at the designated stop at 7:45 a.m., but Mason was nowhere to be found. The bus left without him, and neither Tracy nor Darren had seen or spoken to him that morning. This discrepancy raised immediate questions: How did Mason leave the house at 7:40 a.m., yet miss the bus just five minutes later? Was he still in the house, or had something else happened in that short window of time?
As the day progressed, the mystery deepened. At 3:15 p.m., when the school bus usually dropped Mason off, it arrived without him. His parents grew anxious. By 3:30 p.m., when Mason still hadn’t returned home, Darren sent a frantic text to Tracy, alerting her that their son had not gotten off the bus. Shortly after, Tracy received an email from Desert Hills High School confirming that Mason had missed the day of school altogether. This news sent Tracy into a panic, prompting her to leave work early to return home and search for any clues.
When Tracy arrived, her first instinct was to check Mason's room. But when she turned the doorknob, she discovered the door was locked—a behavior she had never encountered with Mason before. In a rush of worry, she and Darren managed to get the door open. Inside, everything seemed just as it should be—Mason's room was neat and undisturbed. But the absence of Mason and the locked door added to the growing sense of unease.
This wasn’t the first time that Mason had gone missing. Back in December of 2013, after his Xbox had been confiscated, Mason became upset and packed a bag with clothes, a sleeping bag, and some food. That night, in the middle of the harsh Canadian winter, he ran away. However, Mason knew the dangers of being out in freezing temperatures and returned home a few hours later. His family had hoped that incident was a one-time act of frustration, but it now seemed like a pattern was emerging—Mason had a tendency to retreat when things became overwhelming.
The chain of events from the morning—Mason’s odd disappearance, the locked door, the sighting of him walking away from his house—had left both parents with more questions than answers. What had happened to Mason between 7:40 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.? Why had he left the house in the first place? And was this the start of something far more serious than simply skipping school? As the mystery deepens, Tracy and Darren are left to grapple with these unsettling questions, hoping for answers that never come.
Mason’s trail was growing colder with each passing hour. The search effort intensified as Tracy’s other children arrived in St. George to join the hunt for their brother. The LDS Church rallied to support the family, offering help in every way they could. With Mason's striking appearance—blonde hair, blue eyes, and a towering 6 feet 4 inches—someone would surely have noticed if they had seen him wandering the neighborhood or the vast surrounding desert.
Within three days of Mason's disappearance, the St. George police received three separate tips that hinted at a possible lead. The most intriguing came from a person who claimed to have seen a teenager holding a sign that read, “Need a ride to Vegas?” just off an exit ramp on Interstate 15. Darren, desperate to find his son, wasted no time. He immediately packed up and made the two-hour journey to Las Vegas.
Upon arriving, Darren connected with local Red Rock churches, organizing a search and rescue team to canvas the city. They hung flyers and scoured the area, hoping for any clue or sign of Mason. Despite their tireless efforts, no trace of Mason was found. Later, after reviewing surveillance footage from a nearby gas station, investigators were able to confirm that the teenager seen on the interstate was not Mason. The lead had turned out to be a dead end.
Days went by with no new developments. Then, on September 7, Tracy made a startling discovery while going through Mason's wallet. Hidden inside, she found a handwritten letter—three pages long—neatly folded. The letter, written by Mason around 1:30 a.m. on September 1, just hours before his disappearance, gave Tracy pause. Why had Mason written the letter, and what did it contain? Was it a clue to his state of mind, or an explanation of why he had left so suddenly? Tracy would later recall that the details of the letter have never been publicly released, adding to the mounting mystery surrounding Mason's disappearance. The discovery only deepened the questions surrounding his sudden and unexplained vanishing.
Tracy clung to the hope that Mason had simply been upset, feeling the weight of his parents' authority, and that he would eventually reach out to her when he was ready, particularly after he turned 18. As Mason's 18th birthday approached on April 7, 2016, Tracy planned a small birthday gathering, complete with cake, balloons, and the familiar chorus of "Happy Birthday" sung in his honor. But as the day passed, there was no word from Mason. His absence on such a significant day only deepened the pain for his family, and the long months of searching and waiting began to feel like a never-ending cycle of heartache.
Then, in July 2016, nearly a year after Mason disappeared, a new tip brought renewed hope. The lead came from just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, located about 4 1/2 hours away from St. George. Two sisters reported an encounter they had at a Panda Express restaurant. They noticed a teenage boy looking at them from a nearby table. The boy eventually approached them, asking if they had any spare change to help him buy a bus ticket. The sisters, unaware of the significance of the moment, gave him some change, and he thanked them before leaving.
It wasn’t until later, when they described the interaction to their mother, that they became convinced the boy they had encountered was none other than Mason Smith. The sisters recalled that the teenager had been polite and respectful, but it was the peculiar speech pattern that stood out to them. They were convinced it was Mason. Tracy, hearing this tip from investigators, immediately wanted to speak with the sisters. She had kept Mason’s phone line active since his disappearance, hoping that he might one day try to reach out.
