I added and removed this story from this year’s schedule so many times, it was like I was playing hot potato with it. It’s not like it’s a controversial or bleak story—quite the opposite in fact. It’s an extremely upbeat and quite fascinating one.
No, the only reason I contemplated not doing it was because I’m an indecisive person who can’t settle on anything until after he’s done writing it. This story just so happened to be at the receiving end of me repeatedly trying to find a replacement story. Alas, I couldn’t think of any and in hindsight, it’s kind of silly of me because it was one of the very first stories I picked out for this year’s Decemystery back in January.
Anyways, just like the mysterious money in Matt and Wendy Jameson’s backyard, today’s story will make us all feel really happy (at least, I think it will). This is the story of the Saviors of Doris Smith.
The Story
Today’s story was found on the Unsolved Mysteries Wiki, just like the aforementioned story of Matt and Wendy Jameson. It’s also the last time we’ll be going there this month. Should’ve had the foresight to look there more than to poach a bajillion stories from the ObscUrban Legend Wiki. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.
Anyways, takes place in Miller County, Missouri, and begins on September 16, 1995. A man named Thomas Wright—the son of Miller County Sheriff’s Deputy Doris Smith (not sure why his surname is different from his mom’s, unless Doris remarried)—had a nightmare involving his mom. It involved her being assaulted by a prisoner in her vehicle, who attempted to take Doris’ service weapon. Then, a shot went off, and Thomas woke up. He didn’t know who was shot in the altercation, but he had a sinking feeling his mom was the one who got shot. As such, he immediately started to pray for her safety.
The following day, Doris was transporting a prisoner who was serving a year for writing bad checks. The drive was to take four hours, but it hit a speedbump when the prisoner managed to slip out of her handcuffs on account of having small hands. After doing so, she struck and tried to get a hold of Doris’ gun.
Unable to have the turns tabled, Doris was on the losing end of the struggle. However, things quickly turned around. A truck pulled up and two men got out; they rushed to Doris’ aid and got the prisoner to release her grip and assisted her in restraining her attacker once more. Before Doris could thank them, though, they had driven off.
Ever since then, Doris has been searching for her mysterious saviors so she can thank them. The television show Unsolved Mysteries did a segment and on it, a description of the car the two men were driving was given. It was a pre-1995 dark-blue Chevrolet CK Pickup Truck with tinted windows and an extended cab. The two men were also towing a blue and white boat. According to the blog Count Every Mystery, someone else stopped at the scene and took a picture of the truck (which you can view below).
I have no idea if the picture is legitimate. If it is, then I can only guess that the man in the picture is one of Doris’ mysterious saviors. So if you know of a Caucasian man in jeans, a white T-Shirt who appeared to be middle-aged in 1995, then you can submit a tip at Unsolved.com. Of course, the man in the picture could be someone else.
On one final and rather interesting note, there are two comments on Unsolved.com’s article on this story. The first one was made on January 12, 2019, at 5:30 P.M., and is from a woman named “Jamie” who had the following to say:
This is Jamie, just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I was not on my medicine at that time. God saved both of us.
The second comment was made on February 6, 2019, at 4:19 P.M., and is from a lady claiming to be Doris S. Smith (the surname is in all caps, which is peak boomer if I’ve ever seen it). The comment (typos and all) reads as follows:
Jamie, you are forgiven. My only hope is that you will know Christ as I know Him. I am nothing without Him but am everything with Him in my life. I have had many miracles in my life. I have been visited by angles on different occasions. I am forever greatful to God and to the people He has placed in my life for the times that I needed help and encouragement.
I have no idea if these comments are actually from Doris and the prisoner, but it’d be rather interesting if both have kept up with the case all these years later. Well, in my eyes it would. Anyways, that’s where the story ends. Doris’ mysterious saviors have unfortunately never been found, though there are a few theories about them. There are also a few theories as to what Thomas’ dream was, so let’s go over both today.
Theories
1. They were good Samaritans
For our first theory, we have the idea that the two men just so happened to be passing by and stopped to help. That’s literally it; they were just good Samaritans who didn’t stick around for whatever reason. Maybe they were in a rush to get somewhere, or maybe they didn’t want to get caught up with being involved in possible legal proceedings because witnesses can be called to take the stand in court. Not really anything too special to be honest.
2. They were guardian angels
Hoo boy, this is one of those theories that’s really volatile. Although I do like religious mysteries, non-religious mysteries that have religious theories aren’t too fun to cover. They can be a great way to cause an argument, though I’m lucky since I don’t get comments. Therefore, I can talk about this theory all I want.
Except I won’t because I don’t want to press my luck. Anyways, this theory posits that Doris’ guardian angels were sent by God to protect her from her attacker. This theory rests almost entirely upon whether or not you’re religious—or if you at least believe things like guardian angels.
If the idea of divine intervention does it for you, you could opt to interpret this theory as the two mystery men being members of the Guardian Angels. I’m gonna have to see if there’s a mystery surrounding them. That could be a fun write-up.
Theories 2.0
1. It was a premonition
When interviewed by Unsolved Mysteries, Thomas had stated that the bond between him and his mother was extremely powerful and that they could usually feel each other’s pain. This, along with his strong faith, has led him and others to believe that the dream was a premonition from God.
Premonitions are a can of worms I really don’t like opening since I think they’re rather eerie and hard to comprehend. There have been a load of people who claim to have had them, yet they fail to come true. That, on its own, could be used to debunk them as nothing more than the ravings of people who hallucinate or have vivid dreams.
Then there are cases like this where it’s hard to outright throw them out the window since it’s oddly specific to have a dream about your mother being attacked while transporting a prisoner to another prison, only to then be attacked by them. I guess in the long run, this theory depends very heavily on what you think of things like premonitions.
2. It was a coincidence
On the other side of the coin, there are people who think the whole thing was a coincidence; that Thomas just so happened to have a dream about his mom being attacked and it happened. The main idea here is that Thomas’ mind wandered to the idea of his mother being in danger because being a law enforcement officer is a dangerous job and as luck would have it, she found herself in serious danger the following day.
It’s likely such things have happened to other people whose loved ones are cops. Though in this case, I think it hinges a lot on whether or not you believe in coincidences—or how far you’re willing to go with your belief in them.
My Take
I’ll be honest. the religious side of me says the two mystery men were guardian angels. However, a part of me does think it’s very likely the two men just so happened to be passing by and didn’t stick around for one of the reasons I listed above. That’s really all I’ve got to say about that; I’m not really one to immediately discard my religious side, nor am I going to throw out the part of me that thinks it would just be a coincidence that two guys were driving down at the time.
As for why they’ve never been found, it isn’t really too far-fetched to imagine that they—or the people they know—don’t watch Unsolved Mysteries and have no idea Doris is looking for them so she can thank them. Truth be told, I also doubt they’ll ever be found. They may have moved, or they could have died in the time since then.
As for the idea of Thomas’ dream having been a premonition, I really don’t know. I have no opinion on the concept of premonitions as a whole, though I consider most of them to be a coincidence. I remember having a dream of a nation that was shaped like Syria when I was something like 5 and over a decade later, Syria became a nation that could be considered the definition of tumultuous. I also had a dream that Donald Trump won the Presidency in 2016, then had another dream that Joe Biden won it in 2020. I also had a dream that Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia Governorship this year.
My point is: I think most are just coincidences, but in this case, I have no opinion. Make of that what you will. Thomas’ dream was really specific, and I do find it rather hard to ignore it given almost everything he dreamt of ended up happening.
Conclusion
I hope this story brightened up your day as much as it brightened up mine. If not, I hope that you feel happier soon, and remember that there are good people in this world. Even though it may seem like evil reigns supreme, there are truly great people out there who will stay by your side until the bitter end. Trust me on this. Now take care and remember to stay happy and healthy.
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