IN THE PIPELINE: The greatest friend to have

A couple of weeks ago, after I wrote about Dane Williams’ family’s efforts in San Diego to locate whoever killed him, I received a note: “I have known Dane since he was a baby. I just read your piece on Dane. It is necessary to keep it alive or it will get pushed to the back of the file cabinet as new cases come in.”

The note was from a man named Jose Smith. What Smith went on to tell me epitomized the frustration the Williams family continues to deal with. But it’s also emblematic of how much Williams meant to people. Smith had been in San Diego with the family before, and he was getting ready to head back.

“I am going with two friends next Tuesday to meet at a place where transients eat their lunch at noon. Some of the transients that we spoke with the weekend of the rally for Dane suggested we speak to people at St. Vincent’s during lunch. So we are off to show them pictures of the blanket and beanie which we feel are key.”

Smith has a theory about the case.

“After walking the path that Dane needed to take to get home that night in January, a year ago, we are more than convinced that someone in the homeless community knows something. Remember, the blanket was covered in animal hair and smelled of urine. Well, while speaking to some people who are homeless and stay near the library, we suddenly noticed the dogs were wrapped in blankets. All of them. So, my theory is that they may know what happened although they may not have had anything to do with the crime of theft. Perhaps they went to care for a guy who was knocked out and then later discovered he was deceased. Fear that they would be blamed, they moved the body. Keep in mind that his clothes were wet but it didn’t rain until Saturday night. I feel he was on the street Saturday night but he wasn’t alive. I think there is question about the wet clothing.”

Smith’s detective-like instincts seem to have merit, and he’s not done yet.

“The scrapes on [Dane’s] hand, chin and back of his head suggest a fall. Also, remember what he was doing when he was last seen on camera — he was looking down at his phone attempting to text or fix the problems with it while walking. That is what the Hard Rock cameras saw before he fell out of range. ... I think he may have been caught off guard with a punch to get the wallet, money, phone, watch, etc.”

In his trip to San Diego, Smith went to St. Vincent’s and learned that most transients had just recently come to that area. One told Smith, “You’re a year too late with that picture.”

“One interesting discovery was a man we met who quickly said, ‘Why the hell are you asking me about this? I was brought in and swabbed for this case.’ He said that he was brought in and they took DNA from him and said they were from homicide. He was a Caucasian guy in his early 50s, and he said that he did have a police record and he was on parole. He told us we were in the wrong area looking for information. He said that the people at this place stay in one neighborhood or are just coming through. The people in the Gaslamp area stay in Horton Plaza by the fountain or live in doorways. He said, ‘It’s their own little satellite area they live in. They don’t come over this way.’”

Smith went next to Horton Plaza, an outdoor mall.

“We spoke to a few people there and they had just arrived in the area too. One group I watched from the corner of my eye was celebrating the man who held a long gold necklace in his hand. Each of the ‘tweekers’ was allowed to run their fingers down the necklace and appraise it while the holder kept a grip on it. One by one, they each were permitted to touch the gold and relish in its beauty. They each smiled and told him he had a great thing and they waved him goodbye as he journeyed off to what I’m sure was a local pawn shop. Their intentions were clear; if they were kind to him he may return with drugs to share with them when he obtained the cash. My friend felt that they stayed in the area because of the large amount of tourists they could steal from.”

Smith’s mission wasn’t over.

“We left feeling discouraged again. We learned that they call them transients for a reason — they are on the move or they are in their satellite area. We also learned that there is a rough group of drug addicts who prey on tourists in the area so that they can fill their self-prescriptions. Our next move is to go back, post the pictures up and down that area Dane would have traveled.

Someone who lives in a doorway may know something or someone who committed this crime may have moved on to another city. But we will be back because each time we go, we learn something more than we knew before.”

Smith is covering some dangerous ground in San Diego, combing the underbelly in search of clues on behalf of his friend.

We should all have friends like Smith.

CHRIS EPTING is a columnist for the Huntington Beach Independent, a sister newspaper. You can write him at [email protected].