Reporter Craig Civale update

MEXIA, Texas – The scene in Anna Nicole Smith's hometown Thursday could best be described as a media circus.

Television vans formed a perimeter around Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken – the restaurant where Ms. Smith, then known as Vickie Lynn Hogan, met her first husband, Billy Smith.

Police tried to keep the traffic flowing as curious passers-by slowed down and honked. People started pouring into the eatery about 5 p.m., though some of the regulars said the crowd was normal for a Thursday.

Nan Capers, a special education teacher at the high school, stopped in for dinner and said she remembered Ms. Smith. She said she was shocked when she heard about Ms. Smith's death and was concerned about what would happen to Ms. Smith's baby.

"She stood back, not one who would really strike you," Ms. Capers said, adding that Ms. Smith did not participate in band or any other extracurricular activities. "I never got on to her for anything. She was very much a loner."

Ms. Capers recalled the first time she saw Ms. Smith on TV. She said she turned to her son and asked who this woman was claiming to be from Mexia because she didn't recognize the name.

"Way back when she was being famous, she kept saying Mexia was her home," Ms. Capers said. "I guess she felt like this was more home than anywhere else she's been."

Bob Crider, a retired biology teacher at Mexia High School, said he taught Ms. Smith in 1984.

"She was tall, she was skinny, and she was a brunette at that time," he said. "She was an average student."

The thing he remembered about her, he said, was that she wouldn't dissect a pig for biology class and told him she wasn't going to "poke that pig."

Mr. Crider said she didn't run around with any particular group.

"People in Mexia are not really proud of the way she got her notoriety," Mr. Crider said. "We're proud she got rich and famous, but not in the way she did it. She got kind of star-crossed.

"It's always been peculiar to me why she called Mexia home," he added. "I just assumed she had two good years here."

No one answered the door at the home of ex-husband Billy Smith, whom Mr. Crider described as a recluse.