Missing children:
The search for India and Cody Smith

  On July 9, 1997 two children were reported missing from their Champaign County home. India Smith, 11, and her brother Cody, then 4, were reportedly last seen by their step-father, Kevin Neal, who said he last saw them playing in a side yard near the house.
  Two months later, on Sept. 6, two small bodies were found near a cemetery at Ohio 560 and Nettle Creek Road, about seven miles from the Neals' home.
  The bodies could not be immediately identified, but investigators said there was little doubt.
India Smith
Cody Smith
  On May 21, 1999 a grand jury indicted Kevin Neal, on charges of kidnapping and murder.

Sue Neal and her husband, Kevin Neal, were questioned by investigators.

The children's parents:

  India and Cody are the children of Sue Neal, formerly Sue Smith. She was previously married to Rick Smith and had both children during that marriage. However, the younger child, Cody, was fathered by another man, Gary McGraw.
  After the Smith's divorced, Sue married Kevin Neal in April 1997. Neal, who had served time in prison for the rape of his adoptive mother, faces charges of sexually assaulting another woman in 1995.
  The story of the Neals' tumultuous lives was told in a July 27 story by Margo Rutledge Kissell and Wes Wilson of COX NEWS SERVICE.

Reported sightings

  Investigators were checking several possible sightings of the children. One of these was from a clerk at Aunt Millie's Bakery Outlet in Darke County, who said children matching India and Cody's description were in the store on July 9 -- the day of the disappearance.
  The clerk, who asked not to be identified, said the children told her their names were Cody and India, and that they were accompanied by a woman in her sixties.

Map showing where the bodies were found. Published 9-7-1997.

Remains found:

  On Sept. 6, 1997 the skeletal remains of two small bodies were found near a cemetery in Champaign County.
  Investigators could not make a postive identification because of the condition of the bodies, but said they had little doubt that tests would eventually confirm that India and Cody had been found.
  Dental records failed to provide an ID because there were no fillings or abnormalities normally used for positive identifications. Investigators said DNA testing could be used, but would take weeks.
File created: 7-27-1997

Selected Dayton Daily News stories:

DDN 7-10-1997, "Police say two children still missing."
DDN 7-11-1997, "Foul play suspected in disappearance."
DDN 7-12-1997, "Police thinking homicide."
DDN 7-14-1997, "Sheriff's office ends search."
DDN 7-20-1997, "Mom lashes out."
DDN 7-24-1997, "As search widens, nerves rubbed raw."
DDN 7-27-1997, "Neals' tumultuous lives."
DDN 9-7-1997, "Skeletal remains may be missing kids."

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Relevant websites:
The website of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (www.missingkids.org/) has a page on India and Cody Smith.