Smart was employed as a long-distance truck driver based in North Carolina in 1995. He was last seen on July 15, 1995 in Boiling Spring Lakes. His roommate said he hitchhiked to Lugoff, South Carolina at 7:00 p.m. on that day, where he was scheduled to attend a job orientation two days later on July 17. He was carrying little or no money at the time. Smart never arrived at the meeting and has not been heard from again. He normally called his mother on the telephone once a week, but the calls abruptly stopped at the time of his disappearance. He has also stopped contact with his girlfriend in North Dakota.

Smart was an occasional heavy alcohol drinker at the time he disappeared. He had been charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) and was awaiting trial before he vanished, but his girlfriend said he didn't seem apprehensive about the criminal case. He frequented country and western bars and enjoyed country and western music. Smart grew up in California and attended California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, but did not graduate. He has work experience on cattle ranches in Montana. Foul play is suspected in his disappearance, which remains unsolved.