Overview

Full name: Daryl Arnaz Smith

Age at disappearance: 46

Date last seen: October 2, 2014

Last known location: Dunbar, West Virginia, with subsequent cell phone activity indicating travel toward Edens Fork Road in Charleston

City and county: Dunbar and Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia

Case classification: Endangered Missing; suspected foul play

Current status: Missing; unresolved in the publicly available records reviewed

Investigating agency: Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office

Main circumstances: Smith disappeared after speaking with his employer on the morning of October 2, 2014. Cell phone records placed his subsequent movements along Interstate 77 toward Charleston. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Detailed Case Breakdown

Daryl Arnaz Smith: The Unsolved 2014 Disappearance in Dunbar, West Virginia

On October 2, 2014, 46-year-old Daryl Arnaz Smith disappeared from the Dunbar area of Kanawha County, West Virginia. His last known communication was a morning telephone conversation with his employer. Cell phone records subsequently indicated travel toward the Edens Fork Road area of Charleston, but Smith was never heard from again.

More than a decade later, his disappearance remains unresolved in publicly available missing-person records. Authorities have suspected foul play and believe Smith may have been the victim of a homicide. However, his case remains classified as an endangered missing-person case, and no publicly verified finding establishes his death.

The circumstances surrounding his final known movements raise serious questions about what happened that October morning and why he never returned.

Case Summary

Full name: Daryl Arnaz Smith

Age at disappearance: 46

Date last seen: October 2, 2014

Last known location: Dunbar, West Virginia, with subsequent cell phone activity indicating travel toward Edens Fork Road in Charleston

City and county: Dunbar and Charleston, Kanawha County, West Virginia

Case classification: Endangered Missing; suspected foul play

Current status: Missing; unresolved in the publicly available records reviewed

Investigating agency: Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office

Main circumstances: Smith disappeared after speaking with his employer on the morning of October 2, 2014. Cell phone records placed his subsequent movements along Interstate 77 toward Charleston. His whereabouts remain unknown.

Primary case reference: The Charley Project — Daryl Arnaz Smith.

Background: Who Was Daryl Arnaz Smith?

Daryl Arnaz Smith was born on January 11, 1968. At the time of his disappearance, he was 46 years old and lived on Stover Road in Dunbar, a community near Charleston in Kanawha County.

Smith was employed when he disappeared, and his last reported conversation was with his employer. Although publicly available case records establish that he was working at the time, they provide limited verified information about his occupation, personal history, family relationships, and everyday activities.

His missing-person profile includes several identifying characteristics that may remain important to anyone who encountered him around the time he vanished.

According to The Charley Project, Smith was described as:

• A Black man, approximately 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 1 inch tall.
• Weighing approximately 210 to 220 pounds.
• Having brown eyes and black hair, with his head shaved when he disappeared.
• Having a large, multicolored Grim Reaper tattoo on his upper left arm.
• Having a Capricorn zodiac-sign tattoo on his upper right arm near his shoulder.

He was reportedly wearing a Carhartt coat, light blue jeans, and light-colored boots when he disappeared.

These details are particularly significant because clothing descriptions and distinctive tattoos can help distinguish one missing person from another, even when considerable time has passed.

The Disappearance on October 2, 2014

The central events in Smith’s disappearance began on the morning of Thursday, October 2, 2014.

According to his missing-person profile, Smith spoke with his employer by telephone that morning. During the conversation, he was told that he did not need to report to work that day.

This telephone call is the last reported direct communication with Smith documented in the publicly available case summary.

Investigators subsequently obtained cell phone records indicating that Smith traveled along Interstate 77 from Dunbar toward the Edens Fork Road area of Charleston.

That information provides a potential geographic direction for his movements, but it does not conclusively establish where he stopped, whom he encountered, or what happened afterward.

The available account does not specify whether Smith was driving his own vehicle, traveling with another person, or using another means of transportation.

It also does not establish the precise time at which his phone last transmitted a location signal.

After those movements, Smith was never heard from again.

The disappearance was especially concerning because the last reported communication with his employer did not, by itself, explain why he would subsequently vanish.

Source: Daryl Arnaz Smith Case Profile.

Investigation History and Evidence

Cell Phone Records and the Interstate 77 Route

One of the most significant publicly documented investigative details involves Smith’s cell phone.

According to The Charley Project, phone records indicated travel along Interstate 77 between Dunbar and the Edens Fork Road area in Charleston.

The records offer a possible direction of travel and a geographic area relevant to the investigation.

However, the published case summary does not identify the specific cellular towers involved, provide exact connection times, or explain the technical method investigators used to reconstruct the route.

It would therefore be inaccurate to describe those records as proof that Smith entered a particular building, met a particular individual, or arrived at an exact address.

The Edens Fork Road area remains an important geographic reference in the publicly documented account of his disappearance.

Why Investigators Suspect Foul Play

Smith’s case is more concerning than an unexplained absence alone.

The Charley Project reports that foul play is suspected and that authorities believe he was the victim of a homicide.

That is an important distinction: an investigative belief that a missing person was killed is not the same as a legally or forensically confirmed death.

The publicly accessible case summary does not disclose the specific evidence that led investigators to suspect homicide.

It does not identify a publicly confirmed suspect, explain a suspected motive, or establish the circumstances of a possible killing.

Consequently, the homicide suspicion should be understood as an investigative assessment rather than proof of what happened.

Searches, Witnesses, and Physical Evidence

Publicly available information about the operational investigation is limited.

The sources reviewed do not provide sufficient verified detail to reconstruct the initial search response, establish which locations were physically searched, or identify specific witnesses interviewed by investigators.

Likewise, no publicly confirmed case-specific information was located establishing the discovery of blood evidence, a weapon, personal belongings, or other physical evidence conclusively connected to a crime against Smith.

This does not establish that investigators collected no evidence. It means the available public sources do not substantiate those details.

Forensic Testing and DNA

No publicly confirmed case-specific development was located documenting a DNA match, forensic genetic genealogy identification, newly identified remains, or another forensic breakthrough resolving Smith’s disappearance.

There is also insufficient public documentation to establish whether investigators collected family-reference DNA samples or submitted particular evidence for laboratory analysis.

The absence of a published forensic update should not be interpreted as proof that no forensic work has occurred.

Investigation source: The Charley Project Case Record.

Theories and Unresolved Questions

The publicly documented facts leave several important questions unanswered.

What Happened After the Employer’s Phone Call?

Smith’s last reported communication was an ordinary employment-related conversation. He was informed that he did not need to work that day.

What he planned to do afterward has not been established in the verified sources reviewed.

There is no sufficient public evidence to determine whether he had arranged to meet someone, was traveling for a personal errand, or changed his plans unexpectedly.

Why Did His Phone Travel Toward Edens Fork Road?

The reported movement toward Charleston is one of the strongest publicly available geographic clues.

It remains unclear whether the area was Smith’s intended destination or merely part of his route.

The phone records do not establish whether he was alone or whether another person was involved in his disappearance.

Was Smith the Victim of a Crime?

Authorities reportedly suspect homicide, making the possibility of criminal involvement central to the case.

However, no verified public evidence reviewed here establishes the identity of a perpetrator or the manner in which Smith may have died.

It would be speculative to attribute his disappearance to a particular dispute, criminal activity, personal relationship, or other motive without reliable supporting evidence.

Could Someone Still Have Relevant Information?

It is possible that someone remembers seeing Smith, his clothing, or his movements on October 2, 2014.

Such a recollection could be useful to investigators, particularly if it concerns the Dunbar-to-Charleston route or the Edens Fork Road area.

That possibility is a reason for continued public awareness, not evidence that an unidentified witness necessarily exists.

Latest Publicly Available Investigative Updates

Research reviewed through October 19, 2026

The most important finding from the latest public-source review is that no publicly confirmed recent investigative breakthrough was located concerning Daryl Arnaz Smith.

His missing-person profile remains available through The Charley Project, which records March 21, 2019, as its last case-file update. That date is a profile maintenance date, not evidence of a new investigative development.

Smith is also listed in the StillMissing.us West Virginia database, which identifies his October 2, 2014 disappearance from Dunbar. The database listing is not, by itself, confirmation of a newly reopened investigation or recent police activity.

A missing-person poster published by Black and Missing Foundation provides additional historical information attributed to Smith’s family. According to that poster, his older brother Douglas last saw him walking home from work on October 1, 2014. The family also reported that Smith intended to do another job after learning he was not needed at his regular workplace the following morning.

These family-reported details add context but do not independently establish where Smith went or what happened to him.

The public records reviewed did not substantiate any of the following as recent developments in this case: an arrest, criminal charges, a trial, identification of remains, a DNA breakthrough, a publicly named suspect, or a new official reconstruction of Smith’s final movements.

His case therefore remains an unresolved disappearance with suspected foul play, rather than a confirmed homicide with a publicly established perpetrator.

Conclusion: The Search for Answers Continues

Daryl Arnaz Smith disappeared on October 2, 2014, leaving behind a small but significant trail of documented information.

His final reported phone conversation with his employer, his subsequent cell phone activity along Interstate 77, and the direction of travel toward Edens Fork Road remain central details in the public record.

What happened after those movements remains unknown.

Although authorities have reportedly suspected that Smith was killed, the available evidence has not publicly resolved his disappearance or established who, if anyone, was responsible.

Anyone with firsthand information about Smith’s whereabouts on October 1 or 2, 2014, his activities in Dunbar, or possible travel toward the Edens Fork Road area is encouraged to contact the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office currently lists its 24-hour communications number as 304-357-0169 and its general tip line as 304-357-4693.

Even information that may seem minor could help investigators clarify an unexplained movement or establish a more complete timeline.

Daryl Arnaz Smith deserves to be remembered as a person whose disappearance remains unanswered, not simply as another unresolved case.