Dateline "Left For Dead" Recap: Amber Smith's Fate & Where Stefan Moon Is Now

Dateline Left for Dead, the February 2024 installment of NBC’s Dateline: Unforgettable series of true-crime investigations, detailed the harrowing assault and attempted murder of Amber Smith. In 2013, then-20-year-old mother Amber Smith was getting by in life working at a local 7-11 and caring for her infant son. In August of 2013, she went out to drink in a local park with a friend, unaware the evening would turn into a harrowing nightmare nobody should be subjected to.

By 4 AM the following day, Amber Smith would be discovered by local law enforcement, barely conscious and begging for her life. She was taken to a local hospital with multiple severe injuries, including a broken jaw and a bleed on her brain. She’d been subjected to one of the most brutal sexual assaults local law enforcement had ever encountered. However, as revealed in the true-crime show Dateline: Left for Dead, it would be several years before her attacker was brought to justice - and much to Smith’s horror, the man responsible was sickeningly close to her.

What Happened To Amber Smith?

The Brutal Assault In Dateline Left For Dead Explained

Amber Smith, the focus of Left for Dead, was subjected to one of the most brutal attacks ever featured on NBC’s Dateline: Unforgettable. In August 2013, Smith was grabbed by a stranger while at a park in Fort Collins, Colorado. She had been out drinking with a friend, and fallen asleep at a picnic table. What happened to her next was truly harrowing.

Amber Smith awoke to find a man's hands around her neck. She was dragged away by her attacker, with her arms, legs, and head bound with red duct tape. She was then subjected to an incredibly violent sexual assault. She was also beaten to the point of having multiple fractures and bleeding on her brain. Her attacker hadn’t intended for Amber to survive, and she was strangled with a rope until she stopped breathing.

Thankfully, Amber didn’t die from the assault, though her ordeal was far from over. The title of the gripping true-crime documentary Dateline: Unforgettable episode Left for Dead is taken from the state where passers-by found her in after hearing her screams. Amber was discovered naked and barely conscious and had been moved to a different park.

The scars left by the incident, both mental and physical, would take years to heal. To make matters worse, local law enforcement was consistently unable to identify the man responsible, despite DNA evidence on both her own body and the duct tape she had been bound with. It wasn’t until several years later in 2017, during which time Amber had been afraid to leave her own home, that new evidence emerged and authorities were finally able to pinpoint Stefan Moon as a suspect. However, learning the identity of her attacker brought with it a fresh wave of trauma.

Who Was Amber Smith’s Attacker, Stefan Moon?

Amber Smith's Attacker Managed To Worm His Way Into Her Life

When the attack was carried out in 2013, Amber Smith’s attacker, Stefan Moon, wasn’t known to her. However, in a sickening twist of events that eventually led to Moon being identified as her rapist and convicted, the pair crossed paths a few years after the assault.

A Fort Collins local, Stefan Moon ‘met’ Amber Smith in 2015, two years after he attacked her in the park. When Smith moved into an apartment with some friends, Moon was one of her roommates due to the pair having a mutual acquaintance. The two struck up a close friendship, with Smith revealing in the Dateline: Unforgettable episode Left for Dead that she came to view him as a source of emotional support when it came to discussing her trauma and the impact of the harrowing 2013 assault - all the while unawares that she was confiding in the same man who’d subjected her to the nightmarish ordeal.

While Stefan Moon managed to win Amber Smith's trust over the years of their friendship before he was identified as her attacker, he presented himself as a caring, conscientious individual. However, evidence from the police investigation emerged at the trial which revealed just how dark and depraved he truly was (via Coloradoan). For example, a seizure of Moon’s phone revealed over 600 searches for adult content featuring non-consensual intercourse. He was also guilty of several petty crimes, although, unfortunately, none of these put him on the radar as a potential suspect in the Amber Smith case - at least not at first.

How Was Stefan Moon Caught?

Stefan Moon managed to worm his way into Amber Smith’s life for several years before being identified and charged for the violent assault and rape he subjected her to in 2013. However, his proximity to Smith wasn’t how he was ultimately caught. In fact, he was identified thanks to a completely unrelated crime completely unlinked to assault of any kind - trying to sell a bike he’d stolen to a pawnbroker.

Trying to pawn a bike he’d stolen turned out to be Stefan Moon’s undoing, and how Amber Smith was able to learn who was responsible for her nightmare encounter in 2013. Following the bicycle incident, Moon’s DNA was taken by law enforcement and added to the Colorado database. Much to the shock of investigators, the system flagged him up as a match for another, unsolved crime - the rape and assault of Amber Smith.

The DNA taken from Stefan Moon was a direct match for samples taken from Amber Smith’s body and the duct tape she had been bound with. Showing incredible bravery, Smith agreed to work with authorities in order to help get a confession from Moon prior to him being convicted. As Dateline showed, this call was truly disturbing given the context of Moon and Smith being close friends for several years at this point.

A stumbling and shocked Moon was only able to respond “What?...Oh my God, Amber. Um, I—I—I—i—i don’t know what to say, I did not hurt you.” This was, of course, a lie, as the criminal trial that shortly followed would reveal. Moon had one final despicable trick up his sleeve though, as he initially tried to claim that Smith had consented to the encounter via a Craigslist posting. Thankfully, his attempt to muddy the waters and sew seeds of doubt backfired, and only made it easier for the jury to see him as the monster he truly was.

Where Is Stefan Moon Now?

Amber Smith's Attacker Will Die Behind Bars

Following being charged with the rape and assault of Amber Smith in 2017, Stefan Moon went to trial in 2019, two years later. Authorities had been meticulous, getting as much evidence as they possibly could to ensure a conviction. They were sure to eliminate anything that could be used to cause reasonable doubt in a jury, such as proving that the DNA of Smith’s friend she’d been drinking with on the night of the assault, Aric Vanagunas, wasn’t present on Smith or any of the evidence.

There were multiple testimonies given during the trial. Amber Smith gave her own statement, as did many members of local law enforcement who discovered Smith after Moon had left her for dead. The details that emerged were beyond harrowing, with the case rattling even senior police officers.

For example, FCPS Officer Dane Stratton, one of the first officers on the scene, was in tears by the time his testimony finished and confessed that he still hears Amber’s pleas for help in his head. It was also during the trial that lead detective Siobhan Seymour revealed Moon’s disturbing phone search history, which was key evidence as it revealed how skilled Moon had been at manipulating Smith and hiding his true nature once they struck up a friendship.

Moon himself didn’t give a statement during the trial. His legal team argued for 48 years to life, the minimum possible sentence, though were unsuccessful. The prosecution, led by District Attorney Brian Hardouin, pushed for 128 years to life, and thankfully Judge Brinegar, who was overseeing the case, agreed. During her closing statements, Brinegar stated:

“This is certainly an unfathomable case. This is the only justice that can come out of this: the maximum sentence."

Stefan Moon was sentenced to the full 128 years to life. He was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault, second-degree kidnapping, and first-degree assault. He remains behind bars for his monstrous crimes in the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility.

As for Amber Smith, she continues to show an incredible amount of bravery and determination not to allow Moon’s actions to turn her into a victim. She now dedicates herself to helping others who’ve undergone similar experiences and to shed light on how difficult it can be to bring criminals like Moon to justice, and telling her story on the Dateline: Unforgettable episode Left for Dead is part of these efforts.