![Timeline: The mysterious death of Stephen Smith in Murdaugh country](https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2023/11/22/46cfbf42-8cd2-48bf-8e57-0f0780965395/thumbnail/1200x630/ae3a7f1023415dca4b1d5c84ee774eb0/stephen-smith-sneakpeek.jpg?v=5659e73acd91751548aa89950cf015b0)
Timeline: The mysterious death of Stephen Smith in Murdaugh country
CBSN
While investigating the murders of Alex Murdaugh's wife Maggie and son Paul in June 2021, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) stumbled across a clue in another mysterious death — that of Stephen Smith, a 19-year-old who'd been found dead on July 8, 2015. His death was ruled a hit and run even though investigators at the scene found no evidence of one, and the case had gone cold until SLED's discovery after the Murdaugh murders brought it back to life. SLED announced it would be renewing the investigation into Smith's death, sparking new theories and reviving old rumors.
SLED has never said what it found that led them back to Stephen Smith, but through reports and interviews found in the 2015 case file 48 Hours pieced together what happened in the original investigation by the South Carolina Highway Patrol.
The story of Stephen Smith's death begins with his final conversation with his mother, just a week before his death.
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On the eve of the D-Day invasion, Gen. Dwight Eisenhower spent the remaining hours of daylight with the paratroopers who were about to jump behind German lines into occupied France. A single moment captured by an Army photographer became the most enduring image of America's greatest military operation.
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This story previously aired on March 6, 2016. Child Advocate: Do you know why you are here today? 911 operator: 911. What is your emergency? 911 operator: Is there anybody else in the house with you? Robin Doan [to 911]: I so hope my mom is not dead. Robin Doan [to 911]: Please can you just send somebody out here? Robin Doan [to 911]: I'm cold. I'm very cold. Robin Doan [to 911]: I heard my mama scream ... Robin Doan [to 911]: I want my mom. I want my mom. Robin Doan [to 911]: It's on Highway 70. It's about 13.3 miles out from the bowling alley. I have a purple shirt on I have purple pants on. Robin Doan [to 911]: All I want right now is my blanket and my pillow. ... I see him. I see him. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: I really don't want to go to sleep anymore. It makes me to where I'm too scared. I really don't want to go to sleep. OK. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: He had shot in my room and missed me. Advocate: Did you hear anybody say anything. Could you hear anybody talking? Robin Doan [advocate interview]: I don't know this for sure but I thought I saw a white eyes ... a white face. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: And when he shot I saw a flash. Robin Doan [advocate interview]: I can't talk about it. It's too heartbreaking. Levi King interrogation: Before I even realized it, I mean, I'd just pointed it at him and fired.