♪ ♪ >> this is "nightline." >> tonight, homicide investigations, tracking of elements in south carolina. >> it today that i have been waiting for, the best news i've heard in eight years. >> in a mysterious death once rolled a hit-and-run. >> no abrasions, no torn clothes, the shoes were still on his feet. >> the victim a former classmate of alex murdaugh's only surviving son buster. the case reopened after discovery in the murdaugh double murder investigation as buster murdaugh addresses the rumors, what really happened that night? >> stephen smith was murdered, who did it? >> plus, spring break gone wild. the annual right of revelry now a state of emergency at miami. >> these are not spring

breakers, their lawbreakers. because crowds pack south beach. >> multiple human stampede of hundreds of people rushing at you like a tsunami, we are all in mortal danger. >> with two dead in separate shootings. >> we are going to do everything we can to get right at spring break. >> and ranch ice cream? frozen food trend that's dividing tiktok. is it good? >> that's not bad. excellent. >> or is a gross? "nightline" has the scoop. >> "nightline" will be right back. ♪ ♪ now, i dish differently. i run it daily. weekdays... weekends... sometimes after a big snack. you might think that's wasteful, but it's not. 'cause even half loads use 80% less water than handwashing. saving up to $130 a year on utilities. and with cascade platinum plus, you just... scrape. load. done. so next time you're waiting to run it,

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>> good evening, thank you for joining us. the south carolina investigation into the death of stephen smith went cold for years, but his family never stopped believing that what happened that night was no accident. now they know investigators agree and like so much in that part of the states, there is a murdaugh connection. here is abcs eva pilgrim. >> today that i have been waiting for some of the best news i've heard in eight years. >> shocking new developments in the mysterious death of 19-year-old stephen smith, whose body was found nearly eight years ago on a dark country road in hampton county south carolina. for years the considered a hit-and-run but now authorities

confirming there is an active homicide investigation into his death. >> he was an amazing kid and he didn't deserve to die this way and i know somebody did it and whoever did it to come forward and bring peace to this family. >> in this small south carolina town where everyone knows everyone, smith was a classmate of alex b19's only surviving son buster. once again, the spotlight is on hampton county and the murdaugh family, who for so long were a symbol of wealth and influence. the announcement comes less than a month after alex murdaugh was convicted of the double murders of his wife maggie and other son paul, captivating the nation in a dramatic six week long trial. >> guilty verdict. >> although stephen smith died in 2015, it wasn't until two law enforcement reopened smith's case. they discovered new evidence while looking into the double murders. >> at some point in the murdaugh

investigation, which was very broad and all-encompassing, something happened in that investigation that made them take a fresh look at stephen about his case. >> his mother sandy smith never lost her belief that something more happened to her son. she posted a gofundme link in the hopes of exhuming her son's body to re-examine his cause of death. she is said to raise more than $90,000. >> a loving, beautiful child, had ambitions, he wanted to be somebody, he was working on that and somebody stole it from him. >> i know sandy smith has been pushing, fighting, trying to get anyone to pay attention to stephen's case. now nearly eight years. >> for eight years, having to live with that, to be told for the first time you are not easy, we believe you, we think you're right and we are going to find out the truth. >> the south carolina law enforcement division sled team said that while they do not need to exhume his body, they will be

present and participate in any exhibition of his body together more evidence. bustbuster murdaugh breaking his silence to address the rumors of his involvement saying the statement "i have tried my best to ignore the vicious rumors about my involvement in stephen smith's tragic death that continue to be published in the media as i grieve over the brutal murders of my mother and brother," continuing "these baseless rumors are false. i unequivocally deny any involvement in his death in my heart goes out to the smith family." stephen smith was headed home from nursing school on the night his body was found in the middle of sandy run road. a man who was driving by calling 911. >> what is your emergency? >> i see somebody laying out. >> the road or the side of the road? >> heat in the roadway. somebody hit him.

>> we will get someone headed out that way. >> at the time it was ruled a highway vehicular manslaughter but even then some authorities weren't confident. >> he had no abrasions, no torn clothes, his shoes were still on his feet, cell phone still in his pocket. >> the fact that issues were still on the fact that the injuries on his body to his left arm, his upper torso and head, didn't seem to reflect that of a hit-and-run car accident. also, it's a human body. if a car hits it you would think there would be some sort of debris from the car. none was found. >> at the time authorities declared the cause of death as blunt head trauma. the south, and a highway patrol of reporting that the only injuries to the victim or around the head area. stephen smith's mother sandy smith remains convinced it wasn't a hit-and-run. >> i was always fighting that this was a homicide and not a vehicle versus pedestrian. >> before i could get the car,

corner said that's not a wreck, it's a murder. >> first responder tommy moore agrees, telling our abc affiliate he didn't think the 19-year-old was hit by a car. >> two things that come to my mind, he did he was murdered there, or he was murdered elsewhere and dropped there. >> the report also says according to family, stephen never would have been walking in the middle-of-the-road way. and his sister stephanie says her family got a call the day her brother died. >> the day that stephen passed away, randy murdaugh was the second person to call my dad after the corner and he said he wanted to take the case and it would be free of charge and everything. >> the family known for their power in this small town has been in the public eye for years now. the patriarch, alex murdaugh, was once a high-power attorney. >> the influence of the murdaugh family goes back generations to

even alex a bunch of his great-grandfather and even further than that because of their ties to the prosecutor's office in that community. >> now he is spending his life in prison, convicted of killing his wife maggie and son paul. >> the murdaugh family seems to be surrounded in scandal in every way that you look and turn. >> it was a case that gripped the low country of south carolina starting back in june, 2021, when alex murdaugh called 911. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> this is alex murdaugh, i need the lease and an ambulance immediate we, my wife and child. >> maggie and their son paul were found dead on the murdaugh's property. geico did you ever see any tears in her interactions? >> he did not appear to be crying. he appeared to be upset but i did not see any physical tears. >> the trial spent six weeks murdaugh maintaining his innocence. mnnocod morning, youror.

i ul my wife maggie and i would never hurt my son. >> but ultimately found guilty and sentenced to life without parole, though he has since appealed. now with the trial having come to a close, all eyes are on the smith case. mitt's attorney thing that law enforcement said they were waiting until the murdaugh trial was over before making this announcement out of concern that witnesses would not be as forthcoming under the murdaugh's sphere of influence. >> that withholding of information probably has two effects. one, that during the trial they don't want to put any salacious information that might affect the jury and effect that trial, could have caused a mistrial. but two, the influence of the murdaumurdaughs might've been so widespread that witnesses would not want to come forward until they saw that this larger-than-life figure in the community could actually be convicted of a crime. >> stephen smith was a beloved brother, son, and friend. >> stephen was funny.

the life of the party. very intelligent. sassy. we were always together. we would always do anything together, regardless if i wanted to do it or not. >> there's hardly words to describe him. [laughter] jubilant, crazy. an actor. he could cry on a dime. >> his hair had to be perfect, his makeup had to be perfect. he didn't miss a beat. go he was openly gay in his very small town, which could not have been easy. >> i know a lot of people asking when did stephen come out, and he never had to come out. you know, because it's just something we knew, and it didn't matter to us. i was so proud of him, you know. his favorite saying is i am who i am and god made me and god don't make mistakes. he was going to get his nursing degree an end work his way up to

a medical doctor and go overseas to take care of children who did not have any medical attention. >> i wanted to see him be the doctor that he wanted to be. because he always talked about open people. >> assist family continues to mourn his loss, they hope this week's new developments will finally to answers. >> there's no question people know what happened. is no question an event like that in a community that small, somebody knows something from that night. >> it might be difficult to answer the ultimate question of probably everyone wants to know. if stephen smith was murdered, who didn't? >> our thanks to eva. up next, spring break mayhem in miami triggers a state of emergency. why some in south beach want why some in south beach want this party over. living with hiv,

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>> it is that time of year and in miami the annual influx of spring breakers looking to party. but between the crowds and the chaos, some say it's time for this tradition to end. abc's victor is in south beach. ♪ ♪ >> spring break in miami. historically it's a wild time. but not this wild or dangerous. miami beach officials declaring a state of emergency after shootings over this past week left two people dead on famous

ocean drive is spring break crowds surged. >> policeman, way more security guards, it's definitely more a lot now than it was. >> they need to shut it off and take the party off the streets. >> every noise that's going on, we scared. geico a suspect was taken into custody in each incident. the chaos has left city officials at a loss. >> i don't think i've heard any mayors say we did everything we could when you have death like this. i think what we have not been able to figure out, and i think where we have failed, is how do we stop spring break from happening? >> what are these spring break crowds doing to business? >> destroying it. >> david has been in the middle of the action for more than three decades. his popular restaurant and nightclub is in the heart of south beach. >> anyone who thinks that look at the money they are making, that's an absolute lie greatest because it's not the case? >> it is not the case. the only ones who are stuck on

the front lines are the businesses and our staff. we go he didn't want to take any chances, deciding to close early throughout the weekend as this, capture, restaurant's surveillance cameras, was playing out just outside. >> we had multiple human stampede of hundreds of people rushing at you like a tsunami of people, plates, glass flying, people running over each other. thank god nobody was trampled. we are all literally in mortal danger in that kind of a situation. >> can you believe you are even saying that right now? where talk about spring break crowds on miami beach. >> it is so surreal. >> he believes city officials should be doing more. >> the city did not give us any barricades, we had no cars and no barricades. we were totally defenseless. >> so far this spring break season miami police have arrested more than 20 people and

confiscated more than 70 firearms, four of them from those deadly shooting scenes. >> our residents are rarely involved in any of this in any way, where policing somebody else's flagrant. our cops have tried to figure out the best ways to clear tens of thousands of people off of streets, the best way to stop public brawling, the best way to stop riotous behavior. but that's very hard to do. >> and it's not a new challenge. last year, five people were wounded into separate separate spring break shootings. >> you are committed to immediately and peacefully disperse. >> the year before, miami beach police resorted to using pepper balls to try and control the clouds. after a curfew was imposed on sunday, miami beach 'city commission voted against a curfew this upcoming weekend. the vote dividing the council. >> our city needs to be safe. our visitors need to realize that this is a community -- >> punishing our businesses that

are law-abiding and all of our employees, i don't think that's also a good solution. >> i wanted us to have a curfew this weekend, majority of my colleagues did not want to have it. i don't think you can balance public safety against anything else, including what would have been just a few hours, frankly, of far receipts. >> city officials are embracing for yet another big weekend. the stages being set for the ultra music festival. it draws more than 150,000 visitors and that's on top of those in town for spring break. we are in downtown miami just across the causeway miami beach. >> the mayor is determined to end miami each's reputation as a spring break destination. >> i'm constantly selling their residence i apologize they have to endure it, that they shouldn't have to and that we are much better than this. we are a culture destination, that's who we are, we are going do everything we can to get rid of spring break and hopefully this will be the last year we have these issues. >> but some locals may take it into their own hands.

>> have a message to the leaders of our city. next year, immediately declare an 8:00 p.m. curfew for friday, saturday, sunday. if i don't see that happen, i'm closing mangoes and putting my staff on paid vacation. >> our thanks to victor. up next, a side of ranch? ice cream that is. "nightline" gets a taste of the frozen food controversy. ♪ ♪ >> two sweet. >> right ! later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! hmmm, ok. not coughing at yoga? antiquing not coughing? not coughing at the movies?! hashtag still not coughing?! aaah. oww! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night.

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>> finally tonight, spring has arrived and that means we all scream for ice cream. but a savory new flavor is trying to steal the spotlight. ranch. yep, just like the salad dressing. here's the scoop. the guy love me some ranch but i don't know how i feel about ranch ice cream. >> that distinctive blend of garlic, onion and spices stunning taste buds across social media. >> that's not bad actually. >> oh! [choking] >> well, here we are. we have the hidden valley ranch ice cream and we're going to try it right now. off the bat it looks like been allies cream. it smells a little weird. we have stuff that you normally pair ranch with, carrots, pretzels, buffalo wings, and even pizza. look at this. just -- it's literally like a cookie sunday but it buffalo chicken tender. how cool is that?

>> the more i tasted, the more confused i got, so i asked my "nightline" colleagues to join in. >> why does it kind of slap? >> no! >> i wasn't expecting that. it is sweet. >> right! >> i don't hate it. >> it doesn't even taste like ranch. >> it's weird. >> it's actually sweeter than i expected. >> i kind of like it. >> no! >> yeah! >> it's not bad. but it's odd. because the ice cream is on shelves now until the end of may. >> good luck. >> no chance. i'm a vanilla ice cream kind of guy. that's "nightline" for this evening, catch full episodes on hulu. we will see you right back here, same time tomorrow. thanks for the company, america! good night.