Probe opened into death of Dale Smith’s late wife following his arrest in Michelle Parker case

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into the 2001 death of a woman whose widower, Dale Smith, was recently arrested for the 2011 murder of Michelle Parker.

Shannon Collins-Smith, 26, died on April 10, 2001. An obituary in the Orlando Sentinel stated that she died from a brain injury. Published reports later indicated her death at a friend’s home was ruled accidental intoxication from MDMA, or ecstasy.

At the time of Collins-Smith’s death, Smith was serving a three-year sentence in a military prison after being convicted of domestic violence against his wife, court records show.

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Smith was later engaged to Parker, who vanished in 2011 after dropping the couple’s twins off at Smith’s home. Her body has never been found.

Last month prosecutors charged Smith with Parker’s murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial while incarcerated at the Orange County jail.

The true crime podcast Crime Junkie first reported Wednesday that the medical examiner’s office was reviewing Collins-Smith’s death.

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Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany confirmed the review to News 6 but declined to provide additional details, citing an active investigation by law enforcement.

A spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said the agency is investigating Collins-Smith’s death at the request of the medical examiner’s office.

The sheriff’s office indicated it was too early to answer questions from News 6 about why the death was being investigated 25 years later and whether Smith was a target of the investigation.

Smith’s attorney, Rajan Joshi, declined to answer questions about the investigation, citing a court-imposed gag order in Smith’s prosecution for Parker’s murder.