Thirty years after Susan Smith drove her car into a lake with her two sons strapped in their car seats, she sought parole. A parole board denied her request, and a suitor later revealed that Smith had dreamed of appearing on “Dancing with the Stars.” She is reportedly “devastated” that her bid for parole failed.

After high school, Susan Leigh Vaughan married David Smith. They had two sons, but the marriage faltered despite the children. The couple separated multiple times. During one separation, Susan began dating Tom Findlay, the single son of a wealthy mill owner. Smith imagined a future with Findlay until she received a “Dear John” letter from him, stating he did not want an instant family.

On the night of October 25, Susan Smith knocked on the door of a house near John D. Long Lake. Hysterical, she told the man who answered to call the police. She claimed an armed Black man had carjacked her at a red light, with her two boys—3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alex—still in the car. For days, Susan repeated increasingly inconsistent versions of the carjacking story.

Eventually, Smith confessed. There had been no carjacker. Feeling desperate, alone, and suicidal, she had taken her sons for a drive. At John D. Long Lake, she put the car in neutral, jumped out, and watched as the car sank. Scuba divers later found the vehicle with the boys still strapped in their seats.

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

“Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” on Fox Nation is also a national radio show on SiriusXM channel 111, airing for two hours daily starting at 12 p.m. EST. You can also subscribe and download the daily podcasts at iHeart Podcasts.

[Feature Photo:Child killer who drove her young sons into a lake could get parol]