This Night Wounds Time: The Mysterious Disappearances of Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley

by Shawn Sutherland

Shortly after midnight on March 20, 1988, Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley, two seniors at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas, ventured out into the night. Their destination was Forest Lane, the legendary cruise strip known to every Dallas teenager as the premier hot spot for meeting up with friends. The girls were never seen again. 22 years later, their disappearance remains perhaps the most infamous unsolved mystery in North Texas history. The product of the author's original research, this book, which the Carrollton Police Department credits with revitalizing its investigation into this cold case, examines: the lives of these two young women; what is known about that fateful night; theories and speculation regarding their final fates; the person of interest original case investigators insist was never "properly eliminated as a suspect"; and the impact this haunting event continues to have on the Carrollton community. For additional information, see http://www.thisnightwoundstime.com

Genres: True Crime

167 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Brittnie Bragg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really hit home for me as I was a freshman at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas when Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley disappeared. Their disappearance shocked our school, and our entire town. With their case still being a cold, I hope and pray that someone that knows or saw something that March night in 1988 will come forward, so their case can be solved and their families can finally receive some answers and some closure.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suffers from the kind of problems typical of self-published works, namely editing issues like typographical errors. However, it is definitely worth a read as it contains pretty much all the available information on the disappearances of Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley, two high school seniors and good friends who vanished together from Carrolton, Texas during Spring Break in March 1988. The mystery is told in a clear and coherent narrative and, as the author is also from Carrolton and only a few years older than the missing girls, he was able to place the disappearances in context, better than a non-local author might have been able to do.

Sutherland interviewed Stacie and Susan's family and friends, the law enforcement officers who investigated the case, and the only real suspect, who was Stacie's boyfriend. Sutherland wrote extensively about the boyfriend, whom he refers to by a pseudonym. The man was possessive of Stacie and may have physically abused her, and she was trying to end their relationship before she vanished. After the two girls disappeared, the boyfriend quickly began dating someone else and told this person that he had killed Stacie and Susan and buried them in a cemetery. The new girlfriend went to the police with the story, and they searched the cemetery but didn't find anything. The boyfriend passed a polygraph and has never faced charges in the two missing girls' cases. But Sutherland makes a compelling argument that this suspect was not investigated as thoroughly as he should have been.

What happened to Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley is anyone's guess, but it can't have been anything good. I hope this book can help resolve the disappearances. Their families have waited far too long.

[Kim Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a simple, non-fiction book that suffers typical self-published problems such as editing issues and typographical errors, but you will easily fight through this due to the heartbreaking, compelling story of a heinous, unsolved crime. Author Shawn Sutherland delves into the 1988 disappearance of two Texas teens, Stacie Madison and Susan Smalley. Having attended the same high school years before, Sutherland had met one of the girls in passing shortly before their abduction and wrote this book to bring attention to this unsolved cold case. The book is extremely well researched and includes pictures of the town, the girls, the car, and anything else that helps to illustrate what is being discussed, with all references documented. I recommend this book to anyone who grew up in Carrollton in the 80's.

[Laura Saari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in several classes at NSHS with Susan and I remember her as a friendly girl. I will never forget senior night after their disappearance. They dedicated a song to Stacie and Susan and everyone held back tears.
This book was personal for me. I wasn't close with either girl but I have never forgotten them. The places in the book, the memories it brought back....Forest Lane and the Fish Hatchery...places many of us hung out in 1988.

This book was hard to read but it gave readers who weren't in C-FB at the time a decent idea of the reality. It's an important work if only for the hope that it will spark someone's memory and finally bring Susan and Stacie home.