ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) - Police on Monday named a Florida man as the prime suspect in the disappearance of his ex-fiancee on the same day an episode of The People's Court aired showing the former couple arguing over a $5,000 engagement ring.
Michelle Parker, 33, was last seen November 17 in the Orlando area at about the time the television courtroom reality show aired. On the show, which was taped several months earlier, Dale Smith sued Parker, his former fiancee, for the value of the ring.
"He is our primary suspect," Orlando police Chief Paul Rooney told reporters on Monday, referring to Smith. "We offered him a polygraph, and he simply refused."
Police previously had said they were treating Parker's disappearance as a missing person's case rather than a crime.
Parker's mother, Yvonne Stewart, who earlier had defended Smith, made a plea on live television after the police chief's announcement on Monday for Smith to help find her daughter.
Smith and Parker have 3-year-old twins, and Parker has an 11-year-old child from a previous relationship.
"We want to ask him, if he's out there watching, 'Help us,'" Stewart said.
Parker and Smith both agreed the engagement ring was lost when Parker threw the ring at Smith on the 9th floor of an Atlanta hotel. The ring sailed off the atrium balcony and fell into about 500 conventioneers gathered in the hotel lobby.
Parker and Smith said they had been drinking and fighting to the point that police and hotel security intervened.
Television judge Marilyn Milian told the former couple they were less mature than her own 14-year-old daughter. Milian ruled that they were both at fault and ordered Parker to reimburse Smith for $2,500, half the value of the ring.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Greg McCune)
