At 15, Anita Kay Drake seemed like an ordinary teenager. She had many friends and enjoyed being around other teenagers at a local soda shop called the Campion Dairy. Anita came from a large family. She was one of twelve children born to Kermit Sr., and his wife Virginia. The Drake family lived in Louisville, Ohio which is near Canton, Ohio. 
On October 15, 1963, Anita left home to visit the Campion Dairy to meet with friends. Anita never returned home. The concerned Drake family contacted law enforcement to find their daughter. Unknown to Kermit and Virginia, they would never see their daughter alive again.
The years after Anita’s disappearance wore on the family. One day, someone reported seeing Anita working in a department store in Columbus, Ohio. Kermit and Virginia drove to Columbus to investigate. It wasn’t Anita. And then on another day, a family member saw an inmate on television that resembled Anita. After driving to Cleveland to visit the jail, the family learned it wasn’t Anita.
One of Anita’s siblings recalled their mother receiving an anonymous phone call every Christmas for five years after Anita vanished. The caller always remained silent. Although Virginia thought it might be Anita, her son Leonard Drake thought otherwise. He thought the caller might be connected to Anita’s disappearance and was taunting the family. The family remained hopeful they might someday find out what happened to Anita.
Forward to 2010.
In 2010, Danna Smith Casey’s father Samuel died from lung cancer. In 1994, Casey’s mother Lynda Smith had also died from lung cancer. While going through her father’s personal papers, Danna found an unusual document. On August 6, 1971, her mother had changed her name from Anita Drake to Lynda Smith. Danna said she knew nothing about her mother’s past because she never discussed it. Her mother said she was an orphan who lost her parents in an automobile accident.
Danna wondered why her mother had changed her name to Lynda Smith. However, before Anita died, she revealed her parents were Kermit Sr., and Virginia Drake. Danna was skeptical because her mother was sick and she didn’t want to pressure her mother for extensive details.
Danna began her own research about her mother’s true identity. In 2013, surviving Drake family members had submitted DNA to a Texas based lab. In 2016, Danna submitted her DNA. According to the Charley Project website, Danna received her results in 2017. DNA confirmed Danna Smith’s mother was Anita Drake—the teenager who vanished from a small Ohio town in 1963.
It took five decades before the truth about Anita Drake’s life came out. Before leaving Ohio, she had confided in her sister Debby and a few close friends about running away. Anita claimed a relative was abusing her and wouldn’t stop the abuse. Anita found someone to drive her to Texas where she found work as a waitress in a Dallas restaurant. Although 15, Anita began dating a 24-year-old man named Samuel Smith. The two began dating around Halloween of 1963. Anita and Samuel soon fell in love, got married and had their daughter Danna.
Debby said her sister just wanted to escape her abuser in Ohio and start her own life. Debby, her small circle of friends and Samuel all agreed to protect Anita’s secret because they supported her. Debby said she only talked about Anita because the others who knew Anita’s secret have all since died. She also wanted to give her niece Danna the answers she needed.
During an interview with the Canton Repository, Danna shared her thoughts about her mother. “She lived the rest of her life on her terms. My mother refused to be a victim. And I had a good life with my mom.”
Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.