Missing Tuesday - Angela Marie Finger

Angela Marie Finger disappeared from Las Vegas, NV on June 25, 2006.  She may be missing by choice, or she may be held against her will.

Born 11/8/1983, Angie is the daughter of Michelle and Patrick Finger. She has a brother, Josh, and a sister, Jen. Angie was employed as a cage cashier at the Monte Carlo casino in Las Vegas; she worked for the Monte Carlo hotel and casino for two years and had been promoted twice. Her family describes her as bright, sweet, and close to them.

All that changed when Angie met a man named Craig Raether on the Internet. Raether said he was 27 years old, and that his parents had been killed in a car accident. After meeting online, Raether came to Las Vegas to meet Angela in person in May 2006, and also met her mother, Michelle. Michelle disliked him from the start and suspected he was lying about his age and background. She describes him as smooth and manipulative, and believes that he may have gotten Angie involved with drugs. Raether proposed to Angie the day after meeting her. Although her parents did not like Raether, their opinions had little impact on Angie.

Shortly after meeting Raether, Angela’s personality changed; she began dressing provocatively and acting disrespectfully to her parents. Michelle and Angie argued frequently. Angie and her parents went out for dinner and bowling on Father’s Day (June 18, 2006), and began to discuss her brother Josh’s upcoming wedding. Michelle indicated to Angie that her new boyfriend was not welcome at the wedding, which triggered a huge argument and Angie stopped speaking to her mother. That was the last time her family saw Angie.

Michelle went on a planned vacation to Florida and attempted to contact Angie several times while she was out of town. When she returned, she decided to go visit Angie at her condo. When she arrived, she discovered that the condo was completely cleaned out. The phone was disconnected and the family had no way to contact Angie. She had also walked off her job. Her parents heard that she had moved in with her boyfriend and an older woman, but they did not see or hear from her for a year.

They were frantic with worry and began digging for any information they could find. Michelle located a woman who had shared an apartment with Raether and said that he had tried to get her to go against her parents’ wishes but that she had refused. Angie’s parents contacted the Las Vegas Metro Police and gave them the information that they had collected, but nothing came of their efforts.  In 2007, Michelle Finger had a heart attack.  Her greatest fear while recovering was that she would die without knowing what happened to Angie.  She decided to devote her life to finding her daughter.

In May 2007, Michelle was able to contact the real Craig Raether through the Classmates.com website. Craig said that the real name of man that Angie was with was William Matthew Smolich. In 2006, Smolich was actually 37 years old, not 27 years old as he told Angie and her family. Craig Raether was a former friend of William Smolich, and Smolich stole his identity; Smolich also used the alias Shawn Odow. He was a convicted pedophile wanted in Colorado for failing to register as a sex offender. Smolich was also wanted on charges in Arizona.

Craig’s information confirmed Michelle’s worst fears. Wanting to help Michelle find her daughter and to stop Smolich from using his identity, Craig began doing some investigating of his own. Within a few days, he sent Michelle links to a number of porno websites that Smolich operated and asked if the girl featured on the site was Angie. Although it was heartbreaking for Michelle to look at the sites, she confirmed that it was indeed Angie.

Angie’s mother combed through the websites and found a Colorado telephone number listed on one site. When she dialed the number, Smolich answered; she called him by his real name and demanded to speak with Angie. Smolich apparently transferred the call to another number and stayed on the line when Angie answered. Michelle quickly told her Smolich’s real name and that he was a convicted sex offender. She asked Angie where she was and told her she would come and get her. About ten seconds later, the phone line went dead. Michelle tried calling again repeatedly, but the number would go directly to voicemail. After Michelle’s phone call, Smolich took his websites offline. After October 2007, all traces of Angie and Smolich vanished – it was like they fell off the face of the earth.

Michelle contacted the Boulder County police department regarding Smolich, but they seemed uninterested in pursuing the information. Continuing her investigation, Michelle discovered that Smolich had rented office space in Mesa, AZ. She drove to Mesa and staked out the building for several days, but did not see Smolich or Angie. Local police obtained a search warrant and located an address for Smolich, but when they went to the address, he had already moved out.

Angie supposedly boarded a Greyhound bus in February 2007 in Portland, OR. Later in 2007, she was seen by several photographers at photo shoots in the company of her husband/boyfriend/manager who was really William Smolich. The most notable was the Arizona Shootout 2007, a nude photo shoot held in Phoenix. She identified herself as Angela Raether at least once, and said she was registered with a modeling agency as Angel the model. The couple appeared relaxed and comfortable together. Later, a man who identified himself as Randy Albrecht and said he was Angie’s uncle (Michelle’s brother) told one of the photographers that Angie had left Las Vegas voluntarily to get away from the dysfunctional relationship she had with her mother. He also made disparaging comments about Michelle and Patrick Finger. If that IS true, Angie should at least contact her family and tell them that she is all right, and then move on with her life.

The last information the family received was in February 2008. A man who purchased a car at an auction found some of Angie’s belongings inside. He returned the items to her family but nothing proved helpful.  Angie's parents separated in 2011; the stress of searching for their missing child undoubtedly contributed to the collapse of their marriage.

The FBI is investigating her disappearance and believe that Angela is in danger and may have met with foul play. In 2008, they requested Angie’s dental records for comparison with a body found in the Las Vegas area, but apparently there was no match. Angie may be a victim of human trafficking. She may have gone with Smolich willingly at first, but may now be unable to get away from him, as she has not contacted her family in over six years. Her mother says that even if Angie was angry with her, she would never have cut off contact with her dad and her brother and sister.

Angela Marie Finger was 22 years old at time she vanished; today she is 28 years old. She is 5’7” and weighs 105 lbs., a Caucasian female with brown shoulder length hair with red highlights and hazel eyes. She usually wears contact lenses and always has her nails done in a French manicure. Her ears and navel are pierced; she has a nose ring on the right side. She has two tattoos, one on her right arm (butterfly tribal band) and another on her lower back (sun with a heart in the center and a crescent moon in the heart). Her nickname is Angie, but she may also use the aliases Jordan, Angel, Crimson Heart, or Marie.

William Matthew Smolich remains on the Most Wanted list in Colorado. He is Caucasian, 5’11” tall and weighs 196 lbs, with blond hair and brown eyes. He is considered dangerous and anyone who might see him should not attempt to apprehend him.

If you have any information, contact the FBI’s Las Vegas field office at 702/636-5033, or the Las Vegas Metro Police Department at 702/828-2907.