WINTON, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – On the 29th anniversary of her disappearance, officials continue to ask for the public’s help tracking down a Winton teenager.
According to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office, 17-year-old Vanessa Dawn Smith was last seen on Saturday, May 31, 1997, after leaving her home on Winton Way around 7 p.m. for a walk.
Investigators said Smith never returned home, and her disappearance remains unsolved almost three decades later.
Smith is described as a white female, 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 130 pounds, with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Detectives said she has a noticeable birthmark extending from her right shoulder to her elbow and a scar on her left ear…