Mom of missing St. George teen: Remains found do not match Macin’s profile

By
Daisy Blake
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Macin Smith, seen left when he was a child and on right, as a teen. Photos Courtesy: Facebook

ST. GEORGE, Utah, July 7, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The human remains found last month 40 miles south of St. George do not match the profile of missing teen Macin Smith, his mother says.

“The remains are dated and do not match Macin’s profile,” Tracey Bratt-Smith told Gephardt Daily exclusively on Friday.

The remains in Arizona were found by a county road employee on June 1 near mile post 22 on County Road 101, also known as Mud Mountain Road. The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, in a news release, described the remains as “a lower half of a human jaw and some long bones.”

Bratt-Smith said the Mohave County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet positively identified the bones, as they are not thought to come from a recent death, but she has been told there is less than a 10 percent chance the remains are those of her son.

Bratt-Smith also told Gephardt Daily exclusively this is a difficult time of year for her family for a myriad of reasons, not least that her son will have been missing for two years in September.

“I think the word that best describes the family is ‘fatigue,'” she said. “I think when there has been so much time that has passed without leads, the adrenaline is worn down. We will not give up until we have answers … but we are all quite tired. One-hundred-thirteen degrees and it is currently too hot here to really do ground searches, but we will resume in the fall.”

Bratt-Smith tries to post regularly on Facebook in a group dedicated to Macin, but even those postings have waned in recent weeks as she fights to remain positive.

Macin walked away from home at the age of 17 in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015.

Macin, the last of Bratt-Smith and her husband Darrin’s six children living at home, walked away when his parents thought he was on his way to school. He left behind his cell phone, wallet, laptop, even his school binder.

Macin did leave a note, which his parents discovered a week later folded inside his wallet. They have not released the contents, preferring to say the note contained an “intent,” which led them to believe he may have planned to harm himself.

Bratt-Smith and other family members have posted Facebook updates as often as they are emotionally able to the Help Find Macin Smith Facebook page, whose members have swelled in number to 40,651, in the hope of bringing him home. There is a $10,000 reward in place for information leading to Macin’s location.
On Friday, Bratt-Smith posted the following:
 

July 7, 2017

Dear Macin’s Army;

Some weeks are harder than others. Somehow thinking about two years ago around this same time of year… being out front of our house lighting things up with my family (with our Macin included) is triggering some pretty low feelings. How could we possibly know, that would be our last 4th of July together? The additional stress of continuing to have dead-end leads and no concrete answers is discouraging at best. I feel uninspired and empty. Hence the low interaction and posts on Macin’s site. 

So many families out there with missing loved ones and many mysteries that continue to go unanswered for years, even decades. The stamina these families must have at times seems unimaginable to me. Then I am reminded, some of us really don’t have a choice. 

I don’t mean to wallow in self pity. I just miss my son. I miss him every day. Some days, worse than others. Another holiday, gone. Another holiday, no Macin. 

(My deepest wish is that you are out there Macin…living your dreams. Blissfully happy. Maybe so happy, that you can’t even recall a past life. Maybe that’s it. Perhaps you are laughing so hard, your belly hurts. You’ve memorized spots from Studio C. You are eating well. Living in a tepid environment. Gazing at the sun as it sets on the horizon. Gaining new material for some songs you would like to write. Shooting hoops with some newfound friends. Developing into a man. If it is a time of self discovery, I commend you for your adventurous nature. If there is an alternative scenario where you are unhappy and tired of being away, please call home. We would give anything for the opportunity to love you in person once more.)

Perhaps I’ll be able to sleep now knowing I reached out to the universe once more with a plea of intense love and desperation for a boy who’s left such a gaping hole in our hearts that the Grand Canyon would pale in comparison.

I love my kids. I love my family. I love all of you who continue to be present in our lives. I am only too aware of how busy life is and yet, you still provide insight, support and creative ideas of how to move forward. There is still so much good in the world. And Macin’s Army is evidence of this.

Much Gratitude,

The Momma

Smith’s story was recently broadcast nationwide on an episode of Investigation Discovery Channel’s “Disappeared.” The exposure spawned numerous leads and word of potential Macin sightings, none of which have panned out.

Macin is 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds. He has light blue eyes and he had short blond hair when he went missing. The Smith family moved to Utah from Canada in spring 2015. Prior to that, Macin was raised in Saratoga Springs, which is west of Lehi. He started kindergarten and attended school through eighth grade in the Saratoga Springs area.

Anyone with information about Macin is asked to call the St. George Police Department at 435-627-4300.

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7 COMMENTS

  1. I am sorry for your loss. It is difficult to look beyond such a loss as this. Time itself seems to stop. Keep looking forward and love those next to you. We never know when it will be our last time with each other.

  2. Hello,
    I just watched “disappeared” program on tv while doing some paperwork in my home office..It saddens me to see you all going through this and to think what Macin might possibly be going through as well.
    Just a thought, has anyone looked into Macin possibly joining the service to get away ?
    Army, Navy, Marines, Coastguard , etc…
    Wishing you all comfort at this difficult time.

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