Belle, West Virginia: Melanie Metheny
Our next case involves Melanie Metheny, a 21-year-old woman, who was last seen on Wednesday, July 19, 2006.
"Melanie had dropped her children off at day care at around 8 a.m. that morning and was never seen or heard from again," Melanie's mother, Debi Metheny, wrote in a recent e-mail. "Her van was found that following Sunday wiped completely clean of finger prints (Melanie had 3 kids going in and out of that van several times a day; finger prints should have been everywhere). We know nothing more to this day than we did in July 2006."
According to Debi, a friend of Melanie's may hold the key to unlocking the mystery of Melanie's disappearance.
"Melanie's friend was seen a week after Melanie's disappearance with bruises to her upper arms (looked like finger marks). She was also referring to Melanie in the past tense. Coincidentally, she moved to Indiana within a month of Melanie's disappearance. Another friend of Melanie's ended up in the hospital with suspicious arm injuries during the same period of time. This seems too coincidental to me. We feel that they could have possibly been threatened."
Another incident, just a few months before Melanie's disappearance, also has her family concerned.
"Her van was stolen, but was later recovered. The vehicle suffered substantial damage and several items were found to be missing. The young man that stole her van and his family threatened my daughter on a regular basis and he was seen at the gas station beside her apartment the night before she disappeared. For months after Melanie's disappearance he refused to cooperate and would not take a lie detector test."
Debi says the man finally agreed to take the test in June 2007. According to Debi, the test results show he was being deceptive. Regardless, police have made no arrests and the case remains unsolved.
"It breaks my heart to think of her 3 lovely children growing up and not knowing how hard she worked to raise and keep them together," Debi wrote.
As with Donna's family, Melanie's family has created a Web site devoted to finding their daughter. Take a look at the photos and details on the site, and if you have any relevant information, contact the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department at 304-357-0169.
