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A blog that tries to inform others about at least a few of the hundreds, if not thousands, of missing children and adults in America. If you have a loved one missing, and would like me to add their story here, please contact me a.s.a.p.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Missing Child Melissa Lee Brannen

 What happened to Melissa Lee Brannen?




Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
Missing Since: December 3, 1989 from Lorton, Virginia
Classification: Non-Family Abduction
Date of Birth: April 13, 1984
Age: 5 years old
Height and Weight: 3′0; 38 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Light brown hair; blue eyes. Brannen has a burn scar on her right forearm.
NCIC Number: M-395923188


Details of Disappearance:
Brannen was last seen at a holiday party in the Woodside Apartment Clubhouse on December 3, 1989 in Lorton, Virginia. Her family resided in the apartment complex at the time. Brannen was wearing a navy blue sweater with a yellow applique of the Sesame Street character Big Bird on it, a blue and red plaid skirt, red tights, black patent leather shoes with gold bows and a pink hooded jacket when she disappeared.

Caleb Daniel Hughes emerged as a suspect in Brannen’s case almost immediately. Hughes was employed as a groundskeeper at Woodside Apartments at the time of Brannen’s disappearance. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) examined blood and fiber evidence from Hughes’ vehicle in the weeks following Brannen’s disappearance. He was convicted of abducting Brannen with the intent to defile in 1991. Two other men were convicted of attempting to extort ransom money from Brannen’s mother shortly after her daughter’s disappearance. The individuals were not connected to her actual abduction. Brannen has never been located. Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact Fairfax County Sheriff’s Department 703-246-7800 or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 202-324-3000 .

Tammy Lynn Akers; Angela Rader: Missing since Feb 7, 1977 in Roanoke, Virginia

Missing Since: February 7, 1977 from Roanoke, Virginia
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics Tammy Lynn Akers

Date Of Birth: June 28, 1962
Age at Time of Disappearance: 14 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'4, 82 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Red hair, blue eyes.
Marks and Scars Akers has a protruding navel and a black-colored mark on her cheek. Her earlobes are scarred.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: A green short-sleeved sweater, jeans, suede shoes and a suede jacket.

 Angela Mae Rader
Missing Since: February 7, 1977 from Roanoke, Virginia
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: July 30, 1962
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5′2, 100 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Brown hair, blue eyes.

Circumstances of Disappearance


Akers and her friend, Angela Rader, were dropped off at William Ruffner Junior High School by one of the girls' relatives on February 7, 1977 in Roanoke, Virginia. The girls did not attend classes that day and were last seen hitchhiking in the city. Neither girl has been heard from again.

Akers is described by her family as a spoiled child. She began to get into trouble at age twelve and had run away with Rader several times before their disappearances in 1977. The police originally did not take their disappearances seriously as a result. Several months after their disappearances, one of the girls's mothers got a phone call from someone saying she was her daughter and was all right. Akers and Rader were also allegedly seen in a grocery store in the months after they vanished but that sighting was never confirmed.

The girls' mothers told authorities that Akers and Rader worked for a friend of their families, Earl Conrad Bramblett, in 1977. A photo of Bramblett is posted below this case summary. Akers's mother stated that her daughter was friends with Bramblett and his wife at the time, frequently spending time at their home. He did not seem to have any adult friends, just children. Investigators believe that Bramblett may have been involved in Akers and Rader's disappearances. He reportedly told friends at a party in 1980 that he wished he did not "hurt Tammy" back in 1977.

Bramblett was charged with molesting a ten-year-old girl in 1984 but acquitted. Akers's older sister says he molested her when she was twelve years old and she believes he molested Akers as well. Bramblett convicted of murdering a Virginia family of four, Blaine and Teresa Hodges and their two children, in 1994 and sentenced to death. He was living with the Hodgeses at the time of their homicides. A jailhouse informant told police that Bramblett had told him that he killed the Hodges family after being caught molesting one of the children. The informant later recanted his statements but Bramblett was executed in April 2003, still maintaining his innocence. It is worth noting that Bramblett has many supporters (particularly on-line) who believe he was wrongly accused. The same people maintain that both Akers and Rader ran away from Roanoke voluntarily in 1977.

Eight months after Bramblett was sent to death row, authorities dug up the yard of the house he had been living in when Akers and Rader disappeared. They found nothing and the residence's current owners did not give them permission to search inside the house, so they never had the opportunity to look in the basement where they believe Akers and Rader may be buried.

Bramblett always maintained his innocence in the missing girls' cases. He said he was drunk when he made the statement about "hurting Tammy" in 1980 and his comment was misinterpreted. He said he believes Akers died in a bonfire in central Florida in 1980 and the police know about it and have tried to cover it up. There is no evidence to support Bramblett's theory, however.

Authorities never charged Bramblett in connection with the girls' disappearances. They have taken blood samples from the girls' mothers so if their bodies are found and their family members are all dead, the bodies can still be identified from DNA. Rader's mother has since died; she believed her daughter was still alive. Akers's family believes she is deceased and Bramblett was connected to her disappearance.
 Rader was last seen in Roanoke County, Virginia on February 7, 1977. Angela Rader was with her friend Tammy Lynn Akers (http://doenetwork.us/cases/36dfva.html). Rader nor Akers showed up for school the next day at William Ruffner Junior High School. They were never heard from again.
Rader had run away with Akers a time or two before, something her family thinks kept the police from taking her disappearance seriously for several years. Rader and Akers both worked for a friend of their familes, Earl Bramblett, at the time they disappeared. Aker's older sister has said that Bramblett started molesting her at age 12, when he forced her to have sex with him. She believes Bramblett started molesting Akers about age 9. Bramblett has since been convicted for the 1994 murder of a family of four and was executed in April 2003.
Investigators believe that Bramblett may have played a part in Akers and Rader's disappearances. Bramblett reportedly told friends that he wished he hadn't "hurt Tammy" three years after she went missing. He was never charged in either Akers or Rader's disappearances.
Eight months after Bramblett landed on death row, investigators dug around his former Bedford County home looking for clues in the girls' disappearance. They were not given permission by current owners to dig inside the house, so the dirt basement where the girls may be buried has never been searched. Police found nothing outside.
Bramblett has always maintained that he had nothing to do with what happened to Tammy Akers and Angela Rader. In a letter to The Roanoke Times in 1998, Bramblett wrote: "And I will again express my opinion that Tammy Akers died in a bonfire in central Florida around 1980 and the police are aware of this and have withheld it from the public." Bramblett never explained his theory and police have never mentioned any Florida connection.



FROM WEB SLEUTHS:
nteresting piece
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/...amblett845.htm

angie rader:character in a play,"Death of the Smiley Face"
produced or written by some outfit in sarasota florida.
In the play a poem is quoted with the expression ". . .Mat maids and bonfire keggers on Saturday nights. . ."
No mention made of her death by bonfire as far as I noticed but I admit I only skimmed through it.
http://www.histage.com/pdf/8205f.pdf

Edited to add:
Note:Although the play was not put under production until 1999, a year after the man quoted about a bonfire death, I don't know what year the play was actually written. The only copyright date I have seen is 1999. I posted this info only because it seems a coincidence. I actually think he was just blowing smoke.


Akers's and Rader's cases remain open and unsolved.

Angela on left, Tammy on right.

Bonnie Cale, Parsons, West Virginia

 What happened to Bonnie Cale?

 Bonnie was last seen at approx. 3pm in the vicinity of Rt. 1 Box 444 in Parsons, West Virginia on March 24, 2002.  Bonnie went to her estranged husband's to visit her daughter. Her vehicle, a black 1991 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, was located abandoned in Webster County, WV.


Melanie Renee Metheny




Detectives have no leads in case of missing Melanie Metheny
Friday July 21, 2006

Investigators with the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department this morning still had no leads in the search for a missing mother of three.

Detectives spent most of the day Thursday interviewing friends, family and other acquaintances who might have information in the disappearance of 21-year-old Melanie Metheny.

Investigators searched the Witcher Creek region in eastern Kanawha County until about 1 a.m. for Metheny, who hasn't been seen for almost two days.

"We will continuously put forth an effort to find her until she's found. We won't stop until we locate her," Sheriff's Lt. Bryan Stover said this morning.

Metheny dropped off her children at Country Kids Daycare in Belle about 7 a.m. on Wednesday. When she didn't return at 6 p.m. to pick them up and day-care employees couldn't contact her, they began to worry.

Owner Peggy Keith said Thursday the mother has always been pleasant with employees and appears to take care of her children, ages 4 years, 2 years and 16 months. The children have been attending the day care for about a year.

Soon after day care employees couldn't reach her, Metheny's family contacted police. Family members suspect foul play. They've scoured the Kanawha Valley for a sign of her gold and tan 1998 Chevrolet Ventura van, W.Va. license US8255, to no avail.

Metheny's father, James, told reporters Thursday that Melanie's boyfriend, Jared Davis, was the last person to see her on Wednesday.

James Metheny said his daughter stays with Davis part-time in Campbells Creek, but lives on Midland Avenue in Belle.

Stover said there are no suspects in Metheny's disappearance at this time.

Metheny, a former student at Riverside High, is studying to enter college and become a nurse. Her father said she spends her days taking classes to prepare for a college-entrance exam.

Metheny is white, 5 feet 3 inches tall, with long, straight strawberry-blond hair. She weighs about 100 pounds and has brown eyes. Police said no one has described the clothes she was wearing.

"It's hard to say what happened. You can guess a million different things. We don't like to do that. We try to stay optimistic," Stover said.

Anyone with information can contact the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office at 357-0169.

Police, family baffled by disappearance


By Anna L. Mallory
Staff writer

Investigators with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department were searching late last night for a missing mother of three.

Rescue crews and K-9 units scoured an area near Spring Fork Drive for 21-year-old Melanie Metheny.

Metheny hasn’t been seen for almost two days, and police spent Thursday trying to piece together what happened to her.
They said people’s tips led them to the region near Witcher Creek.

Metheny dropped her children off at Country Kids Daycare in Belle about 7 a.m. on Wednesday. When she didn’t return at 6 p.m. to pick them up and day-care employees couldn’t contact her, they began to worry.

Metheny’s family contacted police soon after. Family members suspect foul play. They’ve scoured the Kanawha Valley for a sign of her gold and tan 1998 Chevrolet Ventura van, to no avail.

“This has never happened,” said James Metheny, her father. “If she’s even going to be a couple minutes late, she’ll call somebody and tell them she can’t make it.”

Melanie Metheny’s boyfriend, Jared Davis, was the last person to see her on Wednesday, her father said.

He said she stays with Davis part-time in Campbells Creek, but lives on Midland Avenue in Belle.

Kanawha County Sheriff’s Lt. B.C. Stover said investigators are talking to all of Metheny’s family and friends, but have few leads.

He said right now they’re just trying to find out what kind of person she is.

Metheny, a former Riverside High student, wants to be a nurse and has been studying to enter college, her father said. She’s a quiet woman, he said, who spends her days taking classes to prepare for a college-entrance exam.

Metheny is white, 5 feet 3 inches tall, with long, straight strawberry-blond hair. She’s about 100 pounds and has brown eyes.
No one can say what clothes she was wearing last, Stover said.

About six months ago, another young woman went missing from the Belle area, Stover said. About a week later, she turned up after just spending time with a boyfriend.

Employees at the day care say they can’t believe that would be the case with Matheny.

Owner Peggy Keith said the mother has always been pleasant with employees and appears to take care of her children, ages 4 years, 2 years and 16 months.

The children have been attending the day care for about a year.

The two younger children are staying with their father’s mother and the 4-year-old is staying with his father. The family has yet to explain to them that their mother is missing.

“They’re too young,” said Donna Miller, their paternal grandmother.

Miller also said Matheny never would simply abandon her children. “Something has happened,” she said.

Anyone with information about Matheny can contact the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office at 357-0169.

To contact staff writer Anna L. Mallory, use e-mail or call 348-5163.


http://sundaygazettemail.com

Missing Mom Still a Mystery
Posted Wednesday, August 23, 2006 ; 05:37 PM

There have been few leads since her van was discovered.
Story by Ben Thompson

Five weeks after a local mother disappeared, and she's still missing.

Melanie Metheny dropped her kids off at daycare in Belle on the morning of July 19th, and she hasn't been seen since. Family members have scoured the area around her Campbell's Creek home. Investigators have chased down leads, but still nothing.

A few days after she disappeared, detectives found her mini-van on Charleston's west side.

Metheney is 5'3", about 100 pounds, and has long blonde hair.

If you have any information in the case, call the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department at 357-0169.

http://www.wvnstv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=13368

 MySpace page for Melanie
Family notes:
Melanie Renee Metheny was born June 21 1985 she's a wonderful daughter, sister, mother, niece and granddaughter. She has been missing since July 19 2006 and we her family are going crazy not knowing what has happened to her. We do know this ... she has 3 lovely small children that were her whole life Ryan is 5 Nathan just turned 3 and Hannah is 1 there is no way in the world that she would have left those children of her own free will. The not knowing is the hardest part if there is anyone out there who knows anything please help us PLEASE . Melanie we love you and miss you so much
Leisa Wellington Melanie's Aunt






Dear Friends, the "eyes and ears" of Melanie Metheny:

In order to find out what happened to Melanie on Wednesday, July 19, 2006, we need to know what she was doing, feeling, thinking and struggling with during the last week she was in public view.

1. On Sunday, July 16th 2006, did ANYBODY see Melanie with her two children, Hannah and Nathan in tow, probably also in the company of her boyfriend, whom we will call JD? Melanie was out in public view that afternoon, in a picnic shelter
at Coonskin Park, where she left her signature on a roof beam. If you saw her, please try to give as much detail as possible about how she looked, (did she look well, not well, worried, happy, sad, emotionless?

What she was doing when you saw her, in whose company, was she by herself or
with the children and JD? ANY information will give us valuable clues as to the true nature of her disappearance.

2. On Monday, July 17th 2006, Melanie was with alone with her children all day, while JD was presumably at work. Melanie was alone with JD on Monday evening, supposedly for dinner and a movie. Look at the pictures in Melanie's slide show? Did you see her with JD and without her children, or did you bump into them at a movie theater? Again, any impressions, observations, her appearance, demeanor, eye contact or lack thereof are important details, if we can fit them into with what we already know or suspect.

3. On Tuesday, July 18th 2006, all we know for sure is that her children were quickly dropped off at her apartment around 9 AM and Melanie was just getting out of the shower. She has never been a morning person, and she was not "ready to go" at 9AM in the morning, just 23 hours before she would disappear. JD's truck was not there, so presumably he was at work. After this, we have many rumors and much DISinformation about Melanie's last day in public.

So once again we are asking anybody who was in the Campbell's Creek/Belle area on that Tuesday, from 9 AM to 5PM to remember if they saw Melanie, her children or even her van. If you did, any details will be more than we can trustingly accept at this time. All our other witnesses have changed their "testimony" two or more times.

4. We believe that Melanie came to a crisis point of some kind during the evening of July 18th, just 12 hours before she disappeared. Did she call anybody on her cell phone during any of these "last days?" Did anybody have any cell phone conversations with Melanie, from July 1st to July 19th, that they can share with her family (forced to do the police work, for reasons we can only guess about.)

5. Do you know anybody else, besides Melanie, who may have dropped off their children at the Country Kids day care between 7:40 and 8:00 AM on July 19th, 2006, the morning of Melanie's disappearance?

Did anybody see her Chevy Van that morning anywhere and at any time? These seemingly minor details could break this mystery into pieces.

6. And finally, if you knew Melanie, her family would like you to share in all honesty, holding back nothing (except your identity, if you so choose) and tell us as much as you can remember about the LAST TIME you saw Melanie Metheny among us. What did she look like, what was she doing, how did she seem, what did she say, with whom did you see her, etc. etc.

Study her pictures well, if you never met her. You may have seen her and merely thinking about where you were and what you were doing two summers ago, mid-July, in the Charleston area, might just bring back to us something of this beautiful child of God missing for so long. If you know Melanie, then how could you NOT want to be honest about the last time you saw her?

Please help and do this SOON!
May God bless your efforts to remember,

From the family and friends of Melanie Metheny

Here is the newest article from the Charleston Gazette -

A year and a half after vanishing, mystery -- and sorrow -- only deeper

By Gary Harki
Staff writer

February 24, 2008

Donna Harper remembers being in the emergency room when Melanie Metheny gave birth to her son Nathan.

Metheny has been missing since July 19, 2006. The 21-year-old Belle woman's van was found four days later on Charleston's West Side, but no trace of her was ever discovered.

Harper, the grandmother to two of Metheny's three children, remembers that when Nathan was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and the doctor had to cut the cord, sending blood everywhere.


"You don't know what happened," said Harper. "It hurts. You lay in bed at night and you don't know if she was tortured, if it came swiftly."

You don't even know for sure that Metheny died, Harper said.

Metheny is now on the missing-persons Web site for the FOX television show "America's Most Wanted." Her case may also be presented on the show, said Kanawha sheriff's Detective R.A. Lane.

The day Metheny disappeared, she dropped off her three young children - Ryan, now 6; Nathan, 4; and Hannah, 3 - at a day-care center in Belle about 8 a.m., Lane said.

Roughly an hour later, someone - Lane said he is not sure if it was Metheny - made a call from her cell phone to the auto-repair shop Wreck-A-Mended Paint & Body to talk about repairs for her minivan.

Then about 9:30 a.m., a second call was made from Metheny's phone, this one to her voice mailbox.

At 6 p.m. an employee from the day-care center called Harper to tell her Metheny hadn't picked up her children. Harper picked up the kids, two of whom she has had custody of ever since.

Metheny's son Ryan is with his paternal grandparents, Harper said.

Metheny had been broken up from Harper's son Matthew for several months before she disappeared and had a new boyfriend, Jared Davis. Still, Harper said, she and Metheny remained close.

"Her and my son had two babies, and she lived here up until Matt broke up," Harper said. "And after that, she would still stop by; we would get the kids every other weekend."

Two days after Metheny disappeared, tipsters prompted rescue crews and K-9 units to search near Spring Fork Drive in the Witcher Creek area, but found nothing, Lane said.

Two days after that, police found Metheny's missing gold and tan minivan on the West Side. Neighbors said the minivan had been parked there since at least 2 p.m. July 19. That's when a woman first noticed it taking one of her usual parking spaces in front of her house, Lane said.

A 'crisis point'?

Police have followed many leads that went nowhere, Lane said. They are now going back and interviewing everyone again, essentially restarting the investigation, he said.

One thing police would like to learn more about is a mysterious red sport-utility vehicle. Police said that on the afternoon of Metheny's disappearance a witness on the West Side saw a woman inside the SUV struggling to free herself and yelling, "What about my babies?"

Police described the witness only as someone close to Metheny. Lane said police haven't been able to find the SUV.

"Somebody knows something about Melanie and they are keeping a tight lid on it right now," he said. "And we need closure. We need this thing to be solved. If anyone knows anything about her or her disappearance and they want to remain anonymous, they will remain anonymous."

Friends and family of Metheny's have set up a Web site, www.findmelanie.com, which offers a $5,000 reward for information that solves the mystery. The Web site also gives a detailed timeline of the days before the disappearance.

About 12 hours before Metheny disappeared, the Web site claims, she came to a "crisis point."

Lane said he had no information about Metheny suffering through a "crisis point," though he said he has heard rumors about Metheny owing drug dealers $300. While Metheny did use drugs in social settings, he said, he doesn't believe she owed anyone a large sum of money.

"That's asinine," he said. "She was saving to rent a house and get out of the apartment she lived in. She had money; it wasn't a huge amount, but if she needed to, she could use it if she was in that much trouble."

'We need to find out'

Both Harper and Lane say Metheny was a devoted mom.

"Her family members and her friends have said that you always really saw her with her kids except when she went to school," Lane said. "She would take them to their grandparents' houses and let them see them. ... She was a young woman that had three kids and wanted to make something out of her life and for her kids, to give her kids something she might never have had."

Metheny was taking classes to prepare herself for college-entrance exams. She wanted to be a nurse, Harper said.

"With her being gone this long, reality sets in and it makes you think that something worse has happened to her," Lane said. "Then again, you have hope that she is still alive out there. I mean, I've got hope."

Harper's mother died in November. Nathan and Hannah both noticed how sad their grandmother was.

"Little Nathan, he saw that I was upset and said, 'Well, Mamaw, I already lost my mommy.' It's pitiful. It's like a double hurt for me," Harper said. "Wherever the truth lies, we need to find out what happened to her. This needs to come out. These children need to know."


>Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2007 16:48:07 -0400
>Subject: melanie
>
>chatter # 1 : hey babe
>CHATTER # 2: Hey
>CHATTER # 2: whats up
>chatter # 1 : nuthin .. wat are you doin
>CHATTER # 2: just layin round feeling bad
>chatter # 1 : why
>chatter # 1 : hangover ?
>chatter # 1 : lol
>CHATTER # 2: lol no I have an inner ear infection and i cant hear outta my ear ad its being like that 4 2 weeks and last night XXXXX beat me up
>again and it started bleedin
>chatter # 1 : damn
>chatter # 1 : whyd he beat you up ?
>CHATTER # 2: XXXXX and him came in drunk at 8am and I told them to be
>quiet and not to wake XXX and XXXX started cussin me told me not to be a
> bitch and told XXXX to shut me up
>CHATTER # 2: so mom flipped out
>chatter # 1 : youd think XXXX b mad @ him
>CHATTER # 2: he is moving in with mama for a while
>CHATTER # 2: nah never not one of his friend
>CHATTER # 2: friends
>chatter # 1 : damn
>CHATTER # 2: I know
>CHATTER # 2: im ready for bed already and I just got up
>chatter # 1 : lol damn
>CHATTER # 2: I am gonna run and crash sorry im not much of a talker
>tonight
>chatter # 1 : its ok
>CHATTER # 2: atleast XXXXX is taking care of me tonight he went to
>wendys for me he should be back ina few.. I said I wish I had a number 2
>with cheeze sause and he took off..and he called me and was like what did
>u say u wanted I was like where are u and he told me
>chatter # 1 : awwwl
>chatter # 1 : how sweet
>CHATTER # 2: I know I went to take a shower and he just left
>CHATTER # 2: he is so good to me XXXXX
>chatter # 1 : well you better keep him
>CHATTER # 2: hey I heard a rumor about melanie last night and if I tell
>u u have to sware not to say anything
>chatter # 1 : i promise
>CHATTER # 2: the person who told me was friends with the person who
>done it and this is gonna be bad will u be ok
>chatter # 1 : yeahh i should be
>CHATTER # 2: they wont find her XXXXthe person said that they took her
>and burned her and they even put lime in her mouth to disolve her teeth
>CHATTER # 2: so there is nothing to find
>CHATTER # 2: dont say anything the person would come after me and XXXXX
>the one who told me made sure i swore
>chatter # 1 : i wont say anything
>CHATTER # 2: well worse the ashes are up winefred where everyone rides
>4wheelers
>CHATTER # 2: they done it there and dumped the ashes
>chatter # 1 : thats awful wat in tha hell did melanie ever do to anyone
>?
>chatter # 1 : yah kno
>CHATTER # 2: this person wants to tell the police but he is the only
>one who knows and the person who did it would know it wa him or that he
>told soeone and he has a baby too
>CHATTER # 2: so he wont say nuttin but he wanted me to tell michael and
>I said I couldnt
>chatter # 1 : Was it XXXX
>CHATTER # 2: he knows some but it wasnt him I sware
>chatter # 1 : what the hell did melanie ever do honestly
>CHATTER # 2: XXXXX is a snitch so he wouldnt tell him
>CHATTER # 2: he said she owned him 300 dollors
>CHATTER # 2: dollars
>chatter # 1 : wtf
>chatter # 1 : XXXXX XXXXX ?
>CHATTER # 2: I know I cried
>CHATTER # 2: no it wasnt him either the person who told me wouldnt tell
>me who but I am glad I couldnt deal with it
>CHATTER # 2: mel was my friend
>CHATTER # 2: I want to tell XXXXX but he would want to go investigate
>and tell the police and it would come back to me and the person who told
>me
>chatter # 1 : its awful someone would even do that
>CHATTER # 2: I know
>chatter # 1 : XXXXX m. ?
>CHATTER # 2: yeah
>chatter # 1 : hes locked up right it wouldnt be a good thing to tell
>neone
>chatter # 1 : tell him i mean
>chatter # 1 : right now
>CHATTER # 2: he wanted me to tell him he said he deserves to know but I
>dont want to tell him
>CHATTER # 2: XXXXdont even later b/c only 2 people know other than me..
>him and the one who told me
>chatter # 1 : i wont i promise i wont tell anyone
>chatter # 1 : but its killin me b.c melanie didnt deserve none of this
>CHATTER # 2: it is just too serious
>CHATTER # 2: I know and her family need to know even tho it will kill
>them for some closure
>chatter # 1 : did they say nethin about them doin it in a trailor then
>burnin it down
>CHATTER # 2: I wasnt even gonna tell u but is driving me crazy
>CHATTER # 2: no he just said they burned the evidence and her
>completely
>chatter # 1 : i kno you can tell me and i wont say nethin but its gonna
>eat me up everytime i talk to XXXXX
>CHATTER # 2: he said they even shoved a 50 of coke down her throat and
>asked her if it was worth was she was gettin
>CHATTER # 2: so I know he wasnt lyin he knew too many details
>CHATTER # 2: XXXX he bawled like a baby and said I cant do anything and
>I want to
>chatter # 1 : well XXXXX told XXXXX b4 XXXXX XXXXX knew shit about
>it
>CHATTER # 2: I tell u one thing the person who did is is friends with
>XXXXX XXXXX and XXXXX has no clue...
>CHATTER # 2: thats what XXXXX told me and XXXXX .. XXXXX didnt even
>know her
>CHATTER # 2: XXXXX told me that before I knew XXXXX
>chatter # 1 : did they tell you exactlly who did so i kno to stay away
>from them
>chatter # 1 : yeah m3
>chatter # 1 : me2
>CHATTER # 2: but I dont think XXXXX knows anything..
>CHATTER # 2: no I wanted to know
>CHATTER # 2: but he said it would be to bad to tell me b/c of his kid
>and XXXXX
>chatter # 1 : its prolly someone we know
>CHATTER # 2: that what bothers me
>chatter # 1 : what do you mean b/c of his kid n XXXXX
>CHATTER # 2: he hs a kid
>CHATTER # 2: and if it got out he told me it would be bad and b/c I
>have XXXXX if it got out I knew anything
>CHATTER # 2: he is just worried we got our kids to think about
>chatter # 1 : was the boy in on it
>CHATTER # 2: no
>CHATTER # 2: the guy came to this guy and told him b/c he had to tell
>someone
>CHATTER # 2: and now this one is stuck with this in his head and cant
>do anything
>chatter # 1 : and now its stuck in our heads and we cant do nethin
>chatter # 1 : and you & i both kno if it was one of us melanie would do
>sumthin yah kno
>chatter # 1 : but i promised i wouldnt tell and i wont
>CHATTER # 2: if I thought for a second it wouldnt come back on e and
>him I would go to the police right now
>chatter # 1 : yeah
>CHATTER # 2: I would u have to believe I would but I cant
>chatter # 1 : i kno
>CHATTER # 2: if I ever hear that more people know I will b/c he wont
>know who told
>chatter # 1 : so they're sayin that they would kill you n XXXXX ?
>CHATTER # 2: he didnt say that the person would but he said he wouldnt
>risk it b/c he did this over 300 dollars
>chatter # 1 : its awful
>CHATTER # 2: it scared the hell outta me last night
>chatter # 1 : i just wanna break down and cry
>CHATTER # 2: I did last night
>chatter # 1 : but that wouldnt help anythin
>CHATTER # 2: I just wish there was something of her to find, if u can
>handle it we can go up there one day when its warmer and just look I
>would be ok if we found something anything.
>CHATTER # 2: I mean it would kill me but I would be ok with calling the
>police
>chatter # 1 : yeah but it prolly just kill me inside knowin that thats
>where she was yah kno
>CHATTER # 2: I know but if we found something anything I would tell the
>polie and I would say I heard a rumor and I wanted to look before I was
>brought into it
>chatter # 1 : yeah but tha chances are they might not believe us you kno
>& we'd get blamed for it
>CHATTER # 2: I dont think that would happen
>CHATTER # 2: I would just tell them the facts I was told this happened
>and was told not to say a word and I wanted to b/c I knew her and I had
>to see if there was anything to find so it wouldnt come back nothing then
>they knew it was me
>chatter # 1 : the police arent aloud to tell who said anything
>CHATTER # 2: but they will there is always someone who tells their wife
>or something and it goes from there
>CHATTER # 2: even XXXXX is a snitch in belle now
>chatter # 1 : i kno
>chatter # 1 : the other cop Cox got arrested
>CHATTER # 2: really
>chatter # 1 : yeah
>chatter # 1 : for domestic violence
>CHATTER # 2: I want to go up there one day maybe just e and u and look
>around find anything even burned places on the ground anything
>CHATTER # 2: when did that happen
>chatter # 1 : the other day
>chatter # 1 : im down to go whenever
>CHATTER # 2: wow
>chatter # 1 : its gonna be hard tho
>CHATTER # 2: I need to come down one day and we would have to go early
>but without a car or something if we can wait till the end of this month
>I will have moms truck and it will go anywhere
>CHATTER # 2: I know but like u said mel would lf it were us
>chatter # 1 : its gonna be even harder you kno when i talk to michael
>and hes dien to kno what happened to her
>chatter # 1 : yeah i kno
>CHATTER # 2: listen I sware if we find out anything XXXXX I will tell him
>everything
>chatter # 1 : k
>CHATTER # 2: if I talk then there is nothing to prove it they will come
>after us but if there is proof and they can arrest someone then I will
>feel safe talking
>chatter # 1 : yeah
>CHATTER # 2: I will sit his dad and step mom down too I sware..
>CHATTER # 2: soon as I get the truck we will go I will even get a
>camera
>chatter # 1 : ok
>chatter # 1 : but i seriously doubt if thats the truth theres anything
>at all
>CHATTER # 2: Ihave to run XXXXX is here and he will kill me for talking
>bout uit on the pc
>chatter # 1 : kk
>CHATTER # 2: call me in a few at the house
>chatter # 1 : ok i will if i dont forgetr
>chatter # 1 : forget*
>CHATTER # 2: ok
>CHATTER # 2: u kno w the number??
>chatter # 1 : yeah XXXXX got it
>CHATTER # 2: ok well dont even tell her b/c cam
>CHATTER # 2: u never know
>chatter # 1 : ok
>CHATTER # 2: if I hear anythign else u know ill tell u got 2 go


 
Melanie you've always been my baby girl since the day you were born and you always will be my little girl. You are the best daughter a Dad could ever ask for. PLEASE anyone help us we need Melanie home with us. We miss her and we are going crazy not knowing where you are. PLEASE anyone help us that can.
I LOVE YOU DADDY

Melanie is the best sister any brother could ever hope to have. We miss you so much. Please come home to us.
We love you so much
James and Michael Melanie's brothers

Melanie I love and I miss you. Please come home to us
Donna Melanie's step Mom

Melanie we love you and miss you so much. Please someone help bring Melanie home to us.
Aaron Chaz and Allison Melanie's cousins

Brittany Beers



Beers, Brittany






Classification: Endangered Missing Child
Date of Birth: August 1, 1991
Date Missing: September 16, 1997
From City/State: Sturgis, MI
Age at Time of Disapperance: 6
Gender: Female
Race: White
Height: 48 inches
Weight: 45 pounds
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Complexion: Medium
Glasses/Contacts Description: N/A

Identifying Characteristics: Missing her four front teeth.
Clothing: White tank top with possible floral design, bright pink or hot pink shorts, white athletic shoes with a pink design on the side.
Jewelry: N/A

Circumstances of Disappearance: Unknown. Brittney was last seen playing outside of the Village Manor apartment complex on the evening of September 16, 1997.

Investigative Agency: Sturgis Police Department
Phone: (616) 651-3231

STURGIS -- If she were here today, Brittany Beers would be 18, maybe graduating from high school, looking forward to college.

She would no longer be the little girl in the photos with blonde hair and soft eyes.

Instead, police are continuing their search for whoever is responsible for her disappearance in 1997, when she was 6.

The last reported sighting of Brittany was at about 8:45 p.m. Sept. 16, 1997, when she was seen sitting on a park bench outside an apartment complex where she lived along U.S. 12. She was wearing a white tank top with a flower design, hot-pink shorts and white LA Gear shoes with a pink design and white shoelaces with a red stripe.

David Ives, deputy chief of the Sturgis Police Department, believes foul play was involved, given the time that has passed.

"What else would there be?" he said.

On Tuesday, 12 years to the day since Brittany went missing, Sturgis police and the FBI released a four-paragraph statement saying that over the last year investigators have renewed their efforts but have yet to get a solid break. They have reviewed the case "tip by tip, meticulously going through it" and conducting numerous interviews, Ives said.
"We're trying to make sure that no tip has been overlooked or anything has been left out," he said.

"We just don't have a strong suspect in this case," Ives said, noting that police have looked at more than 1,000 tips during their investigation.

"It hasn't been for lack of effort, I can assure you of that. ... There's a lot of people we've looked at, some more than others, but there's no one person we're focusing on at this point."

Authorities mounted massive searches for Brittany in the days following her disappearance. They have since conducted searches for a body with cadaver dogs.

Anyone who may have information is asked to call Sturgis police at (269) 659-7260 or Crime Stoppers at (800) 342-STOP.

Enhanced Age Progression Photo:


Marcus Maxine Stalnaker and Mary Friend

On Wednesday night, December 1, 1999, Mary Geneva Friend and Marcus Maxine Stalnaker disappeared from their residence near Jane Lew, Lewis County, West Virginia. Friend's vehicle was recovered abandoned in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia, on Monday, December 6, 1999.











Friday August 03, 2007

Lewis County Sheriff Michael Gissy is eager to resume a search of Stonewall Jackson Lake for clues to the 1999 disappearance of two women for a reason never before revealed: A fisherman found a purse in the lake several years ago that contained articles belonging to both women.

Jane Lew residents Mary Geneva Friend and her mother, Marcus Maxine Stalnaker, went missing on Dec. 1, 1999, when they went on a shopping trip.

Divers spent 10 days searching Stonewall Jackson Lake in September 2002. Afterward Robert Rinehart, who was sheriff at the time, said fishermen found a piece of evidence linked to the women. But he would not reveal what that evidence was, saying it could hamper the investigation. Rinehart also would not give any details about other evidence he said the divers found using an underwater camera. Rinehart did say he was convinced the women were dead and that their bodies could be at the bottom of the lake.

Gissy, who is now the sheriff, was asked Thursday about an October 2002 rumor circulating at Stonewall Resort that the drivers' license of one of the missing women had been found in the lake.

"In a roundabout way, yes," Gissy said. "There was a purse found in the lake by a fisherman, and all of the information for both women was found in the purse. But there was no recovery of any bodies."

A diving team was scheduled to search the lake last month, but the dive was tentatively postponed to Aug. 21. Gissy said Thursday he has received word that the dive may again be "delayed a little bit" because members of the dive team have some scheduling conflicts.

Regarding the area of the lake to be searched this time, Gissy told The Associated Press last month, "Our existing team has not attempted to look at this spot."

Friend was 45 when she disappeared. Stalnaker was 69.

Both lived in a small house on Jesses Fork hollow near Jane Lew with Friend's husband, Kevin, who was working in Maryland during the week they vanished. He said he came home from work on Friday, Dec. 3, 1999, and found an empty house. He said he didn't realize his wife and mother-in-law hadn't been seen for two days. Police said they found no signs of violence or intruders at the house.
Five days after the women vanished, their gray 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon was found in a parking lot next to an abandoned building in Clarksburg. There was no sign of foul play and no helpful evidence was recovered.

Anonymous tips gradually tapered off. Just before Christmas 1999, investigators from the Lewis County Sheriff's Department, the West Virginia State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation met for two and a half hours and "brought everybody up to speed," Rinehart said at the time.

The case's lead investigator had assembled a three-inch notebook with interview transcripts and notes on evidence. But Rinehart said afterward, "We're just not getting anywhere."

After Christmas 1999, police posted signs with pictures of the missing women in Lewis, Harrison and Upshur counties.
The case dropped out of the news until 2002, when the media reported the search of the 2,650-acre lake and Rinehart's comments.


http://www.dailymail.com/News/200904130050

Monday April 13, 2009
Reward offered in 1999 W.Va. missing persons case
by The Associated Press

ELKINS, W.Va. (AP) -- Family members are offering a $5,000 reward for information in the 1999 disappearance of a Lewis County mother and daughter.

Karl Hildebrand of Morgantown says relatives hope the reward will turn up new information in the case.

Sixty-nine-year-old-year-old Marcus Maxine Stalnaker and her daughter, 46-year-old Mary Friend, disappeared Dec. 1, 1999, after leaving their Jane Lew home to go on a shopping trip. The car they were traveling in was found five days later near the Harrison County community of Gore.

Hildebrand says family members had lost contact with the women after his mother died in 1989. He says Stalnaker is his mother's sister.

Hildebrand says family members learned of the women's disappearance while researching their genealogy.


"Eight Years Later..."

Story Created: Dec 1, 2007


This week marks eight years since two Lewis County women were reported missing.

Saturday, friends and family of Mary Friend, 46, and her mother, Maxine Stalnaker, 69, came together at Jackson's Mill Baptist Church for a memorial service. The night acted as a support service for many as family comforted each other.

Mary's sister and Maxine's daughter, Pamela Smith said support from the community has helped in what was the most traumatic experience of her life.

Lewis County Sheriff's Department has been following the case for years. Members of the force also came out for the Saturday service.


May 26, 2008


WESTON -- New developments in the search for two Lewis County women that have been missing for nearly ten years.

Lewis County Sheriff Mike Gissy says teams have been searching an area near Georgetown Road for the bodies of Maxine Stalnaker and Mary Friend.

Gissy says several of the womens' family members used to live in that area.

He says investigators have also used an underwater camera to search an abandoned well on the property.

Gissy says deputies plan to continue to search the area with cadaver dogs.

Stalnaker and Friend vanished in December 1999.

Five days later, Friend's abandoned car turned up in Harrison County.

In October 2002, fishermen found evidence that led Lewis County sheriff's deputies to search Stonewall Jackson Lake.

Last August, divers again search the lake near Skin Creek Bridge. Gissy says the department has received several tips and is continuing to follow up on them.

2007-07-17


WESTON, W.Va. (AP) - It's been more than seven years since Mary Friend and her mother, Marcus Maxine Stalnaker, vanished after setting out on a shopping trip. But police are not giving up the search for them.

A diving team will search Stonewall Jackson Lake later this month for clues to the women's disappearance, Lewis County Sheriff Michael Gissy said.

Divers spent more than a week searching the 2,650-acre lake in 2002.

"Our existing team has not attempted to look at this spot," Gissy said.

Friend, 46, and her mother, 69, vanished Dec. 1, 1999. Friend's 1987 silver-gray Chevrolet Celebrity was found five days later along U.S. 19 in Gore, but there was no sign of foul play, and no helpful evidence was recovered.

"We are still exploring every possibility. It will remain active and it is a priority for my office," Gissy said.

The women lived in Jane Lew with Friend's husband, Kevin, who was out of town at the time they vanished. Police said there were no signs of violence or intruders at the couple's home.

The women's belongings also remained at the house, so there was nothing to indicate they packed and left voluntarily

Crystal Gail (Branham) Hall- Missing since March 2009 in Pikeville, Ky



According to her grandmother, Crystal Gail Branham Hall is an imperfect, but loving person.

The stress and emotion of not knowing what has happened to her granddaughter is written on Branham’s face. When speaking of her granddaughter, Branham turns pale, and she begins to cry.

Hall lives on Kentucky Avenue, and, according to Branham, last spoke with her sister on March 3. Branham said, Hall cut the call short saying there was someone in her house.

Her family has had no contact with Hall since that day.

Hall is a petite woman, is about 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs approximately 107 pounds. She has a fair complexion and red hair, although Branham said her granddaughter had recently dyed her hair an auburn color. Hall, who turned 25 in April, has brown eyes and a tattoo on her arm of a heart, and her ex-husband’s name, “Willie,” tattooed on her leg.

Hall also is the mother of three young children, ages 6, 5, and 3.

Branham has custody of two of her great-grandchildren.

Branham said she believes her granddaughter is dead because she wouldn’t have missed her daily calls to her children. Although Hall does not have custody of her children, Branham said she would call them every day to tell them goodnight, and to say that she loved them.

Branham gained custody of the children after she visited her granddaughter and Hall asked her to take the kids away, saying she wasn’t fit, at that time, to be a mother.

Hall has struggled with drugs, Branham said.

Branham said her granddaughter spent a year in jail in Lexington on drug-related charges, but Branham said that now she, didn’t “Think that she did them that often,” and acknowledged that she does not know what kind of drugs her granddaughter used.

Branham said that after Hall spent a year in jail, she had no desire to ever return and told her grandmother, “Please Grandma, wish nobody in jail, it’s not a good place.”

Hall did have visitation rights to her children, and would come and see them.

Her disappearance has been hardest on the children, Branham said, because they are too young to understand what it means when someone goes missing.

“They want to know how come Mom’s not calling or come to see them,” Branham said.

“I told them she’s on vacation. I’ve told them I can’t find her,” Branham said through tears. The children ask Branham to “go find her.”

When they are out, often the children ask where their mother could be, and ask Branham to go hunt for her.

“I say, ‘If I see her, we’ll stop,’” Branham said.

It isn’t possible, Branham said, that her granddaughter simply left. Hall would have contacted her grandmother, Branham said.

“By this time, she would have called,” Branham said.

Hall talked often with her grandmother, and spoke openly about her about her life, her drug use, and where she was going.

Branham said the police showed her two videos which may have shown Hall alive, and were taken in West Virginia. “It wasn’t her in either of those,” Branham said.

When speaking about what may have happened to her granddaughter, Branham breaks down.

Through a stream of tears, Branham says that with Hall missing, her granddaughter is at the forefront of her thoughts.

“That’s what you think about ... through the day ... even when you’re doing something ... she could catch you,” Branham said.

Hall’s family is not giving up looking for her. Her family has put flyers up all across southeastern Kentucky, parts of Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

“I think I could find her If I could find a little lead,” Branham said.

“I search and I search and I’ll keep on searching. Anytime I hear gossip about her, I take it to the police,” Branham said.

“I’m doing everything I can to find my baby,” Branham said.

Kentucky State Police Post 9 Detective Kevin Newsome, who is investigating Hall’s disappearance, said that the police have been pursuing many leads, but do not have any new leads. He also said several people have reported seeing Hall around the area, but police “Have not been able to confirm if it’s her.”

Newsome said anyone with any information about Hall’s whereabouts should come forward.

“If somebody had information, it’s going to be critical to the case and for us to be able to know what’s happened to this young lady. It’s going to help the family, whose been grieving over not knowing what’s going on,” he said.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Kentucky State Police Post 9, at 606-433-7711. Callers can remain anonymous.

In addition, anonymous tips can be made via the Internet, by e-mailing the Kentucky State Police. To e-mail KSP visit, www.kentuckystatepolice.org. Those with information may also visit, www.kentuckystatepolice.org/cold_case.htm, and submit an e-mail.

http://www.news-expressky.com/articl...tory/01top.txt

Missing since 1983: - Dixie Barker, Ashland, Kentucky



Dixie Barker was last seen at her trailer park
in the vicinity of the 3400 block of South 29th St in Ashland, Kentucky.
She was about 5ft. and 2in. tall. She had blue eyes, and brown hair. She lived with son  Eddie Barker in Ashland, Ky. He worked for the City, picking up garbage. He said that she was home on the morning that he left for work. She was a little wild for her age. She liked to go to bars, and wear fancy clothes. She went by a nickname as BABY BLUE on the CB.
(That information was posted by her granddaughter on a message board on an unsolved mysteries site back in 1999.)

No one came forward as an eyewitness to her leaving the trailer park, which reportedly had about 60 trailers in it at the time, nothing suggested that she left on her own, as her purse, shoes, clothes, personal items were all inside the trailer undisturbed. Authorities stated that they have suspects, but no definite proof, and the case remains unsolved.
If you have any information pertaining to Dixie's case, please contact the Ashland Police Department at 606-327-2072.


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Disclaimer: Sources

In many cases, these blogs are obtained from other sources on the web. Source information will be added whenever possible. My apologies for those already up that may not be sourced, or credit given. This will be fixed.