Missing Mom Disappears After Appearance on Court TV Show
Desperate search for Florida woman who vanished
Authorities are searching for a missing Florida mother of three who disappeared Thursday after appearing on a taped episode of "The People's Court" television show.
Michelle Parker, of Orlando, Fla., was last heard from Thursday afternoon when a text message showed she was in the Waterford Lakes area, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The 33-year-old mother disappeared on the same day an episode of the court show aired featuring her and her ex-fiance, Dale Smith, who is the father of her 3-year-old twins.
Parker's Hummer sport-utility vehicle was found abandoned a day later on the west side of Orlando, police officials told the newspaper.
Parker and Smith had appeared in court over a dispute about a $5,000 engagement ring. Parker described a tumultuous relationship with Smith that at times she said became violent.
"He gets pretty malicious and vindictive," Parker said on the show, "and he's a mean person especially when he's been drinking."
"He shouldn't have put his hands on me and he shouldn't have put his hands on me prior. He shouldn't have left me three or four times over the past year and a half that we've been together," she said.
WFTV reports that Parker's parents do not believe Smith is responsible for their daughter's disappearance, saying they believe she was a "victim of a random crime."
Parker is described as 5-foot-6 with short, dark brown hair. Anyone with information on her disappearance is being urged to call the Orlando Police Department at (321) 235-5300.
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