The body of a former Bend man has yet to be located, more than two years after his suspected murder and a year after his business partner was arrested and charged in his death.

Christopher Ryan Smith lived in Bend for about a year, according to his father, Steven Smith, who still lives in Bend with Christopher Smith’s mother, Debi Smith.

In 2010, Christopher Smith was living in Southern California, where he co-owned the Internet advertising company 800xchange with Edward Younghoon Shin.

Investigators believe Shin murdered his 32-year-old business partner at their San Juan Capistrano office in June of that year in order to consolidate control of the business. He then allegedly impersonated Christopher Smith for months, sending emails to Christopher Smith’s family and friends claiming he was on a trip to Africa and writing accounts of his travels.

When the emails stopped in December 2010, the Smith family contacted law enforcement and later filed a missing person report with the Laguna Beach Police Department. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation, and in late August 2011, Shin was arrested while attempting to board a plane from Los Angeles to Canada. A second man, Kenny Roy Krall, was arrested on suspicion of allegedly helping Shin dispose of Christopher Smith’s clothing and vehicle.

Steven Smith said that since the arrests of the two men, searches for his son’s body have been conducted in the deserts southeast of Los Angeles — including one with 150 police officers — but have turned up nothing.

Earlier this year, the Smith family filed a $10 million claim against the Laguna Beach Police Department, alleging police had botched their investigation into his disappearance.

Steven Smith said the suit has since been dropped but declined to elaborate, as the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has advised him not to talk to media.

Shin, now 34, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.

Matt Murphy, a prosecutor in the homicide unit of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, said Shin could go to trial in a year or two. Shin hired one of the best defense attorneys in the area, Murphy said, who has filed several motions challenging whether certain evidence, including statements made by Shin after his arrest, should be admissible at trial.

Murphy said the Smith family has been disappointed a trial hasn’t happened yet, but “the worst thing that could happen” would be to move the trial along too quickly, opening the door for Shin to claim he received inadequate legal counsel.

“It’s a complicated case; we’re sort of at the mercy of the defense,” Murphy said. “We’re ready any time.”

The search for Christopher Smith’s body has been suspended indefinitely, Murphy said. The area where investigators believe it’s likely his body was dumped is massive, he said, and it’s ineffective to search without more specific information on where he might be.

“But, if we had a tip, or if Shin wants to talk, we’ll go,” Murphy said.

Steven Smith said his family has struggled to move past the disappearance and likely death of Christopher Smith. He said there’s far more to the story than has been revealed publicly so far, but until Shin goes to trial, most of what investigators have learned will remain under wraps.

“When it all comes out, it’ll be unbelievable,” he said.

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