Betty Gladden-Smith: ‘Missing’ case of John Smith’s second wife remains unsolved since 1991

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: The Betty Fran Gladden-Smith missing case baffled New Jersey authorities for years, while the family of the missing person fought for justice.

Gladden-Smith's husband John Smith had a dark history which was exposed when in April 2000 the mummified remains of John Smith's first wife, Janice Hartman, were identified.

True crime show 'NBC Dateline's episode 'Chameleon' covering the murder case premiered on Friday, April 26, and was streamed on Peacock and Hulu the following day. 

Janice Hartman was buried as 'Jane Doe' in Morocco, Indiana, 20 years ago. But Betty Fran Gladden-Smith has never been found. John Smith was charged with Gladden-Smith's murder in 2019, but the case was later dropped due to insufficient evidence.

"A woman goes missing; investigators uncover her husband's chilling history," says the official synopsis of the episode. Let's explore what happened to Betty Fran Gladden-Smith.

Betty Fran Gladden-Smith goes missing

After dating for a few months, Betty 'Fran' Gladden married John David Smith in March 1990, according to Oxygen. She first got to know John when he was an engineer for a Florida-based computer software company.

After a year of marriage, the couple relocated to a condominium in West Windsor, New Jersey. John Smith was a better husband to Fran even though it was rumored that he had an abusive relationship with Janice Hartman, his first wife, according to Sports Keeda.

Dateline was informed by Fran's sister Sherrie Davis that "John was great with my mother and my grandmother".

Betty Fran Gladden-Smith had hip surgery and had been bedridden for nearly a month after slipping on wet tiles, according to a Daily Mail report. But on September 28, 1991, she vanished, and on October 4, 1991, John Smith reported her missing to the New Jersey police.

John Smith reported that when he got home, Betty was gone and that she had left a note saying, "Going away for a few days. Don't forget to feed the fish."

According to NBC News, John stated in the missing person's report that Betty had packed a yellow suitcase and headed to Florida to visit her family. But this story was similar to the one he provided in 1974 when his first wife vanished.

It was revealed by John that Janice Hartman had taken off for Florida, carrying a red suitcase.

Dedy Childers, Fran's daughter, told Dateline, "I said, 'John, where's my mom? I thought she was with you. I was absolutely panicked because I knew something was really wrong."

When the West Windsor detectives got to know about Janice Hartman's disappearance under similar circumstances, they began looking into Betty Fran Gladden's disappearance.

Was Betty Fran Gladden-Smith ever seen again? 

Betty was never found, even after the years went by and John Smith was found guilty of killing Janice Hartman. According to NJ.com, the West Windsor police are still looking into the disappearance in light of the potential for a murder case.

Betty would never be seen again, John told the West Windsor detectives, adding that she had left for Florida to meet her family. When Betty's family discovered that John Smith had a prior marriage—something they were ignorant of—they began to suspect foul play.

Was John Smith charged with Betty Fran Gladden's murder?

According to NBC News, John Smith was indicted with Betty Fran Gladden's murder in November 2019.

However, Mercer County Judge Peter Warshaw's decision to exclude evidence from the Hartman case from the murder trial led the prosecutor's office to drop the charges.

Smith agreed to cooperate with the prosecution in exchange for not being charged after admitting to know where Fran was.

He did not confess to his guilt but said he covered her body with a black blanket and disposed it of at his workplace, the Carborundum facility in Keasbey, Woodbridge Township, according to NJ.com.

John Smith added that he was unable to remember every detail of the incident because of a head injury he sustained while incarcerated.