The death of famed actor Robert Redford this week has renewed interest in the unsolved murder of a college student who was dating his daughter in the early 1980s.
Colorado police believe that college student Sid Wells was shot and murdered by his roommate in 1983. Redford remained concerned about the case for decades, even calling prosecutors to thank them when an arrest warrant for Wells' roommate, Thayne Smika, was finally filed in 2010, News 9 reported.
"We had a brief, but very cordial conversation in which he thanked me and the Boulder Police and my office for continuing to pay attention to the case and work towards getting a warrant eventually," then-District Attorney Alex Garnett told News 9.
"I certainly got the impression, both from my understanding of the case and from that conversation and some other things, that this was more than just a casual dating relationship, that Mr. Wells and Robert Redford's daughter were pretty serious about each other," Garnett told News 9. "I thought [the call] was a positive reflection of Robert Redford's concern about his daughter and about this young man who'd lost his life very tragically."
Despite Garnett's efforts, Smika has never been caught. In the aftermath of Redford's passing this week, the FBI issued a $10,000 reward leading to Smika's capture. The bulletin included age-progressed images of Smika.
In 1983, CU student Sid Wells was murdered. @BoulderPolice have a warrant for his roommate, Thayne Smika, and the FBI is offering a $10,000 reward. Learn more about circumstances of the murder in this @9News report: https://t.co/dCGLVA1NwI pic.twitter.com/dbJ62Rm3sp
— FBI Denver (@FBIDenver) September 17, 2025
According to the Denver Post, Wells, who was dating Shauna Redford, was found dead in his apartment of a gunshot wound on Aug. 1, 1983. Smika was initially arrested, but at the time, prosecutors felt they had insufficient evidence. Smika was released, and he disappeared in 1986.
After Garnett became district attorney, he reviewed the case, leading to an arrest warrant being issued in 2010 for Smika for first-degree murder, the newspaper reported.
Redford attended Wells funeral and also paid for security protection for Wells' family in the aftermath of the murder when it was unclear who was responsible, News 9 reported. Wells' brother, Robert, told the station that he holds a "deep appreciation" for what Redford did for his family.
