How Did Joseph Smedley Pass Away? Was he murdered?

A teenage student at Indiana University vanished without a trace after sending cryptic text messages to his sister’s phone and then going missing. Only a few days later, his body was pulled from a nearby lake, but the discovery raised more concerns than it did answers. The first half of the episode of “Still a Mystery: Indiana Unsolved” on Investigation Discovery focuses on the mysterious circumstances surrounding Joseph Smedley’s passing and the events that transpired before to his passing. If this is something that interests you as well, don’t worry; we’ve got you covered.

Joseph Smedley
Joseph Smedley

How Did Joseph Smedley Die?

Joseph Smedley II had a happy, bright, and outgoing personality as a young boy when he was growing up in Indianapolis, Indiana. When he was a child, his parents went through a divorce, and ever since then, he has had no contact with any of them. On the other hand, Joseph maintained a close relationship with his sister Vivianne Bernas and communicated with her on an almost daily basis. By the year 2015, the individual who had just turned 20 was a sophomore at Indiana University. He planned to get a degree in biochemistry and lived off campus with some other students who were in the same fraternity.

On September 28, 2015, Vivianne made the decision to report Joseph as missing after she was unable to reach him by phone or through messaging. The previous evening was the last time she had a conversation with her brother. On September 27, 2015, about 11:30 p.m., the family received the news that Joseph had been seen by his roommates for the last time. The following day, October 2, 2015, a fisherman at Griffy Lake in Indiana discovered the body of Joseph in the water there. He had on all of his clothes and was wearing a pair of binoculars around his neck. The verdict reached by the coroner was that Joseph committed suicide by drowning himself and that this was the way of death. According to the complaint, Joseph was wearing a bag on his back that contained around 66 pounds’ worth of pebbles.

Was Joseph Smedley Murdered in Any Way?

According to the show, approximately one week prior to Joseph Smedley’s disappearance, Vivianne had received a call from his former landlord in regards to some debt that he owed, and he had till September 28, 2015 to clear it up. This all occurred about a week before Joseph Smedley went missing. Vivianne had a conversation with Joseph on the evening of September 27, and during their conversation, he promised that he would deliver the check the following day. On the other hand, that never materialised. Vivianne received a concerning text message from Joseph’s phone at approximately four in the morning on September 28.

The message says, “Viv I love you. I have decided to leave the nation. I am preserving your safety and ensuring your protection by not explaining why. Don’t bother calling this number in an attempt to get in touch with me because it won’t go through. I won’t be able to get in touch with you till I’ve settled down overseas. I am so grateful to you, Viv, and I will always love you. And I’m sorry about that.” Because he didn’t even have a passport, Vivianne at first believed it was a joke about something else. However, she started to become concerned when she was unable to get in touch with the young student the following day.

The family afterwards found out that Joseph hadn’t shown up to school on September 28, and his roommates stated that they had seen him before turning in the night before. Smedley’s handwriting was found on a note that was placed on Joseph’s bed and it addressed him leaving the nation. Vivianne was convinced, though, that it was not her brother who was the author of the piece. She claimed that Joseph didn’t like it when people used his last name, despite the fact that their handwriting didn’t match.

Then, in a tragic turn of events, the body of Joseph was discovered in Griffy Lake, which brought an end to the search but raised even more concerns. The coroner determined that the death was a suicide almost two months after the body was recovered. However, the autopsy was carried out by a third-party forensic pathologist at the family’s request. The findings were shocking to say the least. According to the show, Joseph had bleeding on his back, and the doctor speculated that an accident or an unidentified cause of death may have caused Joseph’s death. Vivianne also mentioned that the authorities would not share information with the pathologist, which made it more difficult for them to get the answers they were looking for. In addition, Joseph’s relatives believed that it was highly unlikely that he attempted to commit suicide by weighing himself down with rocks.

The information from Joseph’s smartphone indicated that he was travelling in a vehicle at the time. Vivianne claims that he did not own an automobile that was in functioning condition, which suggests that he may have been in the company of another person before his passing. Additionally, the data revealed that Joseph’s phone had only outgoing communications between the hours of 11 p.m. on September 27 and 4 a.m. on September 28. Vivianne continued by saying, “Now, for you guys who like to use your cell phone, that’s a long time to not say anything.” Vivianne was referring to the fact that some people like to talk on their mobile devices.

The government officials insist that Joseph committed himself by himself, but Joseph’s family does not believe them. They have been advocating for the inquiry to be reopened, and a petition with over 100,000 signatures demanding for the probe to be reopened has been created. In July of the year 2020, Vivianne stated, “We still care for Joseph. We haven’t moved on, and we won’t stop looking for justice for him as long as we have the feeling that what happened to him didn’t get the attention it deserved.

When Joseph went gone

On September 28, 2015, Joseph’s sister, Vivianne, was the one who made the report that she couldn’t find him. She received an odd text message from Joseph’s phone at 4:15 that morning indicating that he loved her and that he was about to leave the country. The message was sent from Joseph’s phone. In addition, the text advised her not to make any attempts to get in touch with him, as he would reach out to her after he was settled in his new country. She initially felt that he was probably just kidding about, but when he didn’t react to her attempts to get in touch with him, she became concerned and called the authorities.

When investigators interviewed with Joseph’s roommates, who were also his fraternity brothers, the roommates stated that they had last seen Joseph late on September 27, 2015, the night before. The way they tell it, they went to Griffy Lake with Joseph to try to observe a lunar eclipse known as a “blood moon,” but because of cloud cover, they couldn’t see much of anything, so they went back to their fraternity home to try again the next night. According to the other people living at the house, everyone left for their own rooms well before midnight, and it was the last time any of them saw Joseph.

After searching Joseph’s room at the fraternity house, it was discovered that the majority of his belongings were still there; however, his mobile phone had been taken. In addition, there was a handwritten note that had a message that was quite similar to the cryptic text that Vivianne had received. It stated that Joseph was leaving the country and that his roommates shouldn’t try to contact him. Joseph’s fraternity mates indicated that they most commonly referred to him as “Smedley,” which was the name that was signed on the note.

Joseph Note
Joseph Note

Following the viewing of the note, Vivianne expressed her opinion that the handwriting did not appear to be that of Joseph. She made the observation that it appeared to be written by a person writing with their left hand, although Joseph was a right-handed person. It is also noteworthy that Joseph did not have a known passport at the time, which would have made it difficult for him to travel internationally at the time. In addition, according to Vivianne, it was out of character for Joseph to skip out on responsibilities like his college studies and the rent payment he owed on a previous residence for which Vivianne had co-signed the lease. Vivianne said this because Joseph had co-signed the lease on the previous residence.

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