Melissa Witt /// Part 1 /// 161 | Forensic Files

[Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you welcome to True Crime garage wherever you are whatever you are doing thanks
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going strong in 2018. all right Captain that's enough of the business everybody gather round grab a chair grab a beer
let's talk some true crime [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign this is an open letter to Melissa witt's
killer we are still searching for you we know that you are most likely still in this community
you are someone's friend co-worker spouse parent or neighbor on the outside you might appear to be
normal even friendly and kind but on the inside that's a different story because in your heart you carry murder
you carry the horror of the crime you committed against an innocent young woman I often wonder if Melissa was the first
person you murdered or had you killed before and have you killed since the details of the crime make it clear
that you have ties to the area in which Melissa's body was discovered you knew that area well
maybe you're a hunter my guess is you are someone with very poor relationship skills
you are most likely a loner you have severe anger issues you probably abuse people and animals
did you interact with Melissa did Melissa reject your advances I bet she did and I bet that made you feel humiliated
and angry you must have been embarrassed when a beautiful 19 year old girl wanted
nothing to do with you this made you feel small and when you did not get your way you
threw a fit and lashed out at her you're pathetic sometimes I think you might even live
near the location where you left Melissa's lifeless body is that why you chose that location
do you ever worry that people close to you suspect you of Melissa's murder do you ever wonder if they have noticed
your suspicious behaviors and Whisper behind your back I believe they do suspect you
I believe they will come forward and turn you in it's only a matter of time before they
figure you out once they suspect the [ __ ] you are capable of committing they will tell others
it is my hope that if anyone who knows you and suspects you of Melissa's murder I hope they find the courage to come
forward and tell us who you are and what you have done fact there is an anonymous tip line set
up for this very purpose I hope that scares you there's a Facebook page who killed Missy
Witt there have been over two and a half million people who have visited this page
and I hope that scares you just know you won't be able to hide forever law enforcement will find you
and I look forward to the day that your secrets are revealed I look forward to when you are arrested
and convicted for what you have done this is the case of Melissa Witt [Music] foreign
[Music] we started looking into an old Cold Case this is The Disappearance of Melissa
Witt Melissa Witt was a 19 year old who went missing from a parking lot and Fort
Smith Arkansas back in December of 1994. yeah and about six weeks later they're going to find Melissa witt's body and
about two weeks ago we were lucky enough to speak with Ladonna Humphrey who has dedicated her life to missing persons
cases for over a decade now and she knows all the details about the Melissa Witt murder investigation she's been
there working on it for quite some time and let's listen in as Ladonna tells us more about herself and tells us how she
got involved in the case of Melissa Witt well I am the executive producer for a documentary that my team is putting
together about Melissa witch it's entitled uneven ground the Melissa Witt story and we became involved in her case
really because of my background so I have been a missing persons advocate for just over a decade in fact 11 years ago
I helped to co-found an organization that offers assistance and resources to families that have missing adults all
across the United States because what we had seen by and large is that there were
many resources given to missing children but nothing really for adults and in that process that team that non-profit
team really wanted to put together a documentary and that has something that had been on my heart for a very long
time and and we started putting the pieces and processes in place to make that happen and as we began to look at
different cases and there are just thousands of cases across the United States we really were touched by Melissa witt's
Case one it's in our own backyard um but we we just weren't sure if if that was the right direction to go
because technically Melissa Witt isn't still missing she was missing for 30 days before her body was found
but you know really long story short our team was so captivated by her case and really wanted to see Justice happen that
we felt like if we were able to get involved that maybe we could somehow help bring some closure to the case and
if not closure at least more awareness to what had happened um perhaps maybe to save the lives of
other teenage girls so that's really how I became involved to be the Melissa Wick
case can you tell us about Melissa Witt and what kind of person she was and what
was she doing leading up to 1994. Melissa it was was described by friends and family as
just you know an all-around good girl she was fun to be around she was happy she was very caring she was a great
student she was very involved in her school she was involved in church activities she really really really
never met a stranger didn't have any enemies Melissa grew up and lived with her single mother Marianne Wentz she did
have a relationship with her father when she was older in fact she was probably close to her teenage years before she
really was able to build that relationship with her father Melissa doesn't have any
um the biological siblings but she did have some siblings that were related to her
through her father's side of the family so and they are still alive but unfortunately Melissa's parents um are
both deceased and they've never you know they weren't able to see the case solved
which is something that weighs really heavy on my heart personally Melissa and I never met each other but I actually
have friends pretty good friends that knew Melissa with so this this case really hits home for me because she was
just an all-around likable lovable girl now in 1994 Melissa Witt was a college student is that correct that's right in
1994 Melissa was attending the community college in Fort Smith what what was then
called westark Community College it's now the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith but it was westark Community
College at the time she was wrapping up her her first semester of school you know that first was a Thursday and she
was going about her her day she had gone to class that morning she went to lunch
with a friend after she left that that lunch meeting with a friend she went to work she worked for a dental office in
Fort Smith her goal in life was to be a dental hygienist well let's get right into it let's get into December 1st the
day that Melissa went missing you know she left work that day I mean it was just a typical day you know less work
that day to go home and change clothes and that's just when everything fell apart
um she went home she changed clothes she found a note from her mom that said hey I'm at um
you know Bowling World tonight you know her mom bowled in a league if you want to stop by you know come see me I'll buy
you a hamburger I know we argued this morning but I'd really like to see you and so
it's believed that Melissa saw that note and that's why she went ahead and went to bowling world that night she never
made it inside Bowling World but we do in fact have proof that Melissa went to bowling world that evening
absolutely we do have proof that she did go to bowling world that evening her car
was found in the parking lot but it is believed that she arrived at Bowling World approximately it's believed
between 6 15 and 6 30. when she left her when she left the dental office her car
wouldn't start she had some help getting her car started she went on home and changed
clothes we do know that she did make it home to change clothes a neighbor saw her her mother was able to verify the
fact that Melissa had changed clothes she was able to identify the clothes that she had worn that day because they
were missing from the missing from the house so we knew that she was wearing those clothes and then left her house to
go on to bowling world but she never made it inside the attack on Melissa would have been very quick and Swift We
believe we know that her keys were found in the parking lot at 7 30 so the attack
on Melissa Witt happened when she arrived and happened between 6 30 and 7 30 because as I stated the keys were
found at 7 30. but it was a league night very busy so the parking lot was full but most people were inside there just
aren't a lot of witnesses to whatever happened to Melissa all right so a lot of things the process we have a college
age girl Melissa Witt she went to work we know that her car didn't start so somebody had a helper correct guessing
probably like a battery or something it's the winter months yeah so it sounds like the person that helped her with her
vehicle was unknown to Melissa Witt so A co-worker of hers stayed in kind of oversaw what was going on so she was not
alone with this unknown Good Samaritan that helped her with her vehicle and I think you're right the guy or girl I
think it was a battery issue that they had to jump start her car but guy or girl I'm I'm guessing a guy helped
helped her I have no information as to the gender of the co-worker or the gender of the Good Samaritan right so
she leaves work she goes home she changes we have some evidence of that then she comes to the bowling alley it's
league night she's gonna go hang out with her her mother yes and so she would have finally left work around a quarter
till six stopping off at her home and then as you said going to bowling world to meet up with her mom and it sounds
like she would have arrived there between about 6 15 and 6 30 on that evening right then we have this hour gap
and then these keys are found her keys are found in the parking lot right so right so at 7 30 the keys are found and
that's perfect because that leads us to our next question that we had for Ladonna if the keys were found at 7 30
is that the time that we now know that we have a missing person no and that is where
this case just really almost falls apart at the beginning because Melissa never went inside the
bowling alley her mom assumed that she she just didn't show up that night when her mom left the bowling league it would
have still been crowded it's a very large parking lot she didn't see her daughter's car
but she wasn't looking for her daughter's car Melissa never showed up as far as Marianne was concerned Melissa
had gone on to do something else so I wanted to tell Mary and Whit had gone home and Melissa didn't come home
that night so about three o'clock in the morning after you know calling friends and waiting frantically for Melissa she
decides to kind of drive around looking for Melissa but she never goes and looks
at Bowling World because it didn't dawn on her to look there because she never saw Melissa there that night so you know
we're losing time because had she gone to Bowling World she would have seen that her daughter's car was there and
the other there was some other key evidence that was in the parking lot so unfortunately Marianne went went back
home she called the police the next morning and when the patrolman came out to take the report from Marianne Wade
about Melissa he asked her had anything happened between you and Melissa that day was there any kind of an argument
you know was Melissa upset and that's when Marianne had to say well yes we did have a small argument that morning and
they did it was a typical argument but between a mother and a daughter Melissa had asked to borrow money you know a
small loan her mom said no and that was that there you know that was the end of it but because Melissa's
mother told the patrolman about that argument he chalked it up in his report as someone that was a runaway you know
rightfully so every day in America police departments take reports of people who are missing who really
they've gotten mad they've taken off and they come back or they've run away and they come back so in his mind this was
just a mad teenage girl well that all makes sense I mean it makes sense that Melissa's mother would not have looked
for her at the bowling alley because she had no reason to believe that she ever arrived yeah yeah and then we have the
situation where once it's reported you know now we know Melissa's been missing for eight hours by this point right
she's finally reported missing and then the officer taking the report rightfully
so thinks that we have a runaway situation because there was an argument you know we've seen this a bazillion
times Captain especially when we covered the Texas Killing Field cases anytime you have somebody in that teenaged years
right and they had some kind of spat with mom or dad or both and that's reported in
the missing persons report you know rightfully so it's it's thought to be someone that left of their own
reasons that left on their own and they'll be back soon well hats off to any parent that has had to deal with a
teenage daughter I couldn't imagine what that's like uh but I think in these cases we shouldn't assume that they're a
runaway and that they're going to come back and we're going to see them the next day or so now Ladonna we have
Melissa's mother who is the one reporting her missing she's the one that had the argument with Melissa that day
what was her gut feeling and what was her reaction as to what was going on Marianne knew that something was wrong
and so she started calling Melissa's friends and they orchestrated a search party of their own they began to pass
out flyers all over the city of Fort Smith and because of their efforts and because they went to the police station
two days later the major crimes unit got involved in Melissa's case that's when they heard about the fact that this
beautiful 19 year old student was missing that she hadn't come home and so as soon as the major crimes unit
you know became aware that Melissa Witt was missing and they had boots on the ground they found her car in the Bowling
World parking lot but they had lost two days at that point so they find her car but they already found her keys
well not necessarily they don't know that these Keys belong to Melissa Witt all they know is that we have some lost
keys my guess is is that keys were found not knowing that the vehicle belonging to those keys are still in the parking
okay okay and then it's turned into the lost and found I'm guessing at the bowling alley by somebody probably
leaving the bowling alley that night yes you're correct so the keys were found by
someone that was at the bowling alley with um their family they found the keys in
the parking lot they turned it in did not realize that there was some blood that had dried on those keys when they
turned those keys in and um that person who found the cues actually went out of town for a job
um after that weekend and it wasn't for a few days that he became aware that that this was in the media you know it
didn't hit the media until late Sunday or Monday about Melissa and when he found out hey there was this girl named
Melissa Witt that you know went missing from Bowling World he remembered that he
had found some keys that he had turned in you know with with the name Missy and he was able to
tell you know law enforcement hey this happened at 7 30. so if that helped establish a timeline but they also knew
that they had a very serious crime on their hands because once once her car was found in the parking lot they also
found um pools of blood throughout the parking lot that later were they were able to determine the
blood belonged to Melissa Witt they found a crushed hair clip that belonged to Melissa Witt they found one of her
earrings and then they had some various accounts of what later became very confusing and
actually led the case in some strange directions but they did have some some witnesses come forward that said that
they had seen an argument in the parking lot you know and other Witnesses witness
had said you know he had heard screams and so they were able then to take all of that information and and construct
the timeline and you would think you know we've both been bowling before right yeah of course hey some people
have I'm bowling right now I got my bowling shoes on and everything I was in a bowling league when I was a
kid we had a really uh awesome team name I want to guess what it's called The Three Amigos now it's just two
people well that's why it would have been extra funny uh balls of steel there you go that's what happens when you're
in like eighth grade you think that's hilarious and when you're the captain so um no but you'd think that maybe there
would be some 9-1-1 call because there was some confrontation in the parking lot uh and there was some screams yeah
those two things to me go there's nobody checking that out well and I originally I thought that
this would be like a very big Stroke of Luck here that you have this guy finds the keys in the parking lot turns them
into the lost and found and then like she said like Ladonna said two days go by before this thing hits the media
before they know they have an abduction and he overhears this and he calls the bowling alley or calls the police and
says I was the guy that found those keys and I found them that night around 7 30.
I thought this was just a really big Stroke of Luck that okay now we can really narrow down this timeline this
that she disappeared Not only was she abducted by 7 30 but you have to presume that the person had made off with her by
that point well no but there was an attack I mean we got pulls of blood in the parking lot right and that's what
I'm saying I originally hearing this information I thought it was a great stroke of luck with but really you would
end up to this conclusion regardless whether this man came forward or not saying that he found the keys right at 7
30. because of the evidence found in the parking lot you could surmise that after
she left her work not having left there until quarter till six stopping off at home you have to believe she was
attacked very quickly after arriving to the parking lot at the bowling world and
if there's pools of blood I mean this this is has to be a vicious attack right yeah and and somebody some way somebody
was able to attack her and control her so my guess would be there's some kind of
you know attack where she's she's hit over the head with something right but it's kind of hard for me to believe
that you know you're you're in your league balls of steel and the Three Amigos are playing and you find these
car keys and you don't see these pools of blood well you have to keep in mind it's dark
out one and then two this person you don't walk around looking for pools of blood you know you see some keys on on
the ground and you you think I'm just going to do something nice if I would have lost my keys I wish somebody would
turn them into the front desk you're assuming the person that lost their keys is inside bowling they're going to come
out not be able to get into their car they're going to go to the front desk and ask if anybody found any Keys wow
it's a little suspicious to me we'll get right back to the case of Melissa Witt right after this quick beer break
thank you [Music] all right cheers mates thanks for sharing on social media cheers to you Captain let's listen back
in on our interview here Ladonna could you tell us in better detail about what was found in the
parking lot of Bowling World and then what that evidence led the investigators to believe
yeah I can um so they're let's start with the blood so the blood pulls um and I'm going to give you what
my opinion is after I've you know studied the evidence and I've had you know full access to the case File it's
believed that Melissa got out of her car that she immediately encountered her into her attacker as she was walking
towards the door of the bowling world but you know she didn't get very far believe that she most likely spurned
someone's advances and they struck her in the head and and you know later we can talk about
how we know that that that indeed did happen so there there are um pulls of you know a few spots of
blood by her car and a few throughout the parking lot where she was clearly dragged or carried and then placed into
another vehicle the larger pool of blood is in a in a parking spot that's further
back where I believe the assailants car was parked probably had her hunched over
you know and if it's a head wound it's going to bleed a little bit more as he he put her in the trunk or in the trunk
bed or in a van whatever vehicle that he had that's what the that that evidence looks like but as far as the witness
evidence it's really it's really complicated it's really um it's sad what happened with the case
almost because you know when when this hit the media people started coming forward and said
hey I I saw someone that that I believe was Melissa Witt that was arguing in the
parking lot with an African-American male and when that story broke and they did a composite sketch based on a couple
of the witnesses this story about Melissa Witt just took outrageous twists and turns I mean outrageous it took law
enforcement on a chase that was fruitless it was just the wrong direction and it really hurt the case
because we were later able to determine that there was a Caucasian female later that evening
that did argue in the parking lot with her African-American boyfriend but it wasn't Melissa Witt
and there are people to this day that even I've interviewed for our documentary who they just swear that it
was Melissa Witt but it just it wasn't we have no evidence to prove that it was you know the most reliable evidence was
from a young boy that exited Bowling World to go out to his car to get a book out of his car he was there with his mom
who was on a league at around 6 30 6 40. he heard a woman scream help me now he didn't see anybody
really you know that gave us an accurate time frame as far as when we believe Melissa was attacked but as far as
anybody seeing anything you know this was right about when the league was starting up you know it was a women's
league night everybody was inside there were very few people left in the parking
lot unfortunately it's been maddening for us as a team and you know we did Chase a lot of these stories down that
even law enforcement has looked at and it's just unfortunate the amount of time and effort that went into
chasing some of this down that turned out to be nothing then it blew this Melissa whip story into something that
it wasn't it people started to question her character rumors started to spill out that had nothing to do with the case
but it really complicated the search for Melissa Witt you know that's one of the
things that we hope that we can you know help with our documentary is kind of show everyone what happened
why the case got derailed and that those those things absolutely did not happen it's a weird thing because you want
eyewitnesses to come forward but when you have eyewitnesses coming forward with phony information it's not that
they're lying to you it's just they saw they saw a white female arguing with the
African-American male but it was just a different girl but that's kind of how some of these cases never get solved
it's because when do people do come forward it's just not with the correct information right well and to be honest
with you eyewitness accounts are not very good um they're they're actually some of the
worst information and evidence you can have in most cases because people were human and and they make inferences and
they make assumptions so when when you get a tip from that night from December 1st 1994 when somebody calls in they
don't call in and say I saw an African-American Guy arguing with a white chick no they call in they say I
saw some dude in the parking lot arguing with Melissa Witt right that's what they
say that's and then you're like oh we have something here and then you once you start piecing this thing together
and you figure out that oh well her car keys were found at 7 30. this argument that was witnessed in the parking lot is
happening after that time Mark after that time frame this is not Melissa Witt this is not who was arguing with Melissa
Witt just so happens to be it's two other people that were spotted later that evening well let's go over
something that we do know so we do know that the attack happened pretty quickly and based on the blood evidence that the
attacker probably was parked further away correct so they parked kind of in the back but they knew so so my gut
feeling is that this person either knew uh knew her well well enough to know that she was going to go to the bowling
alley yeah or it was just somebody that swallowed her there this is all over there is like hey that's an attractive
girl I will attack her and followed her there now that's something that's something interesting
here because you bring up the the thought of some of the psychology of the suspect and let's dive into some of the
psychology of the actual victim here so what can this tell us well it sounds to us like Ladonna believes that Melissa
was approached by this person that whoever attacked or approach approached her and had some kind of brief
interaction with her right before he struck her over the head dragged her or or or threw her over his shoulder and
brought her to his vehicle but we don't know what the evidence of that is why she believes that or if it's just gut
feeling I'm with you my my gut feeling my initial things that my initial suspicion
here was that that didn't really go down that way right but I'm going to go with
ladonna's thought on this she's much closer to the case than I am and so I'm I'm going to go with the ladonna's
correct okay maybe she has something we don't know about yet and she'll get into
that but here's the thing Captain what could that tell us about either our victim or our suspect well if they did
engage in some kind of interaction with one another like you said possibility because look if I'm approached by
somebody that I don't know at all I'm going to be very standoffish and if I'm a 19 year old girl who's approached
by some strange man in a parking lot I might even scream or yell and run from that person so what could it tell us
about the suspect like you said either she may have knew him maybe not that well but knew him
and had spoken to him at some point before or if he's a total suspect and I've heard a total stranger I've heard
this in other cases too there's a chance he was attractive I've heard other victims other female
victims come forward where police are saying well why did you engage with that person when he when this stranger yeah
Bundy yeah why why did you just go along and talk to this person when they approached you and the number one answer
is always well he was attractive and he looked harmless yeah I my gut feeling is telling me that this
individual the suspect followed her knew that he was going to park far away knew that there was going to be little
to no interaction with her she was a victim in his mind and he attacked her from the word go I don't think she there
was there wasn't a conversation I don't think there was you know um you know come with me or anything I
think it was just I'm gonna hit this lady this is my game plan I'm going to park a little bit further away this
we're talking about a bowling alley on a league night that's full I mean if you drive you drive by a bowling alley like
like on Tuesday that there's no league night I mean it looks like the place it has gone under there's nobody there
right but you go on a league night it's like you know it seems like bowling's like the best thing since sliced bread
so there's tons of people in the parking lot you know that if you're gonna attack
this individual that you have to do it quickly I believe this this suspect has ran into her before because he had to
know not only and and I don't know where but he had to know that I'm going to be able to attack
her and I'm going to be able to to be able to manhandle her back into my vehicle
you see what I'm saying yeah but here's where my mind goes I I think that if he was a total stranger
that I don't think he followed her there because if I'm following a total stranger to a parking lot and like you
said it's a fast attack but the longer that this attack takes place and the longer that it takes me to get the
victim from where I attack her into my vehicle right the more likelihood that I'm seen that I'm spotted that somebody
jots down part of my license plate or gives a good description of my vehicle and myself
so here's where my thought is if he's parked that a decent distance from her right
I'm almost thinking he was already there when she pulled into the parking lot right and so he's just he might have
been sitting in the parking lot scouring the park parking lot waiting for an attractive young woman to pull into a
spot and he's going to approach her and attack her yeah and which uh you know because he's
something that was really interesting before that was said before was this was a league night this was ladies league
night and somebody wouldn't know that somebody in the area would very likely know so if
you're if you're going to prey on on a female well why not go to league night where there's a bunch of females yeah
but like I said I think the attack I think once uh the suspect knew this person's my Victim or you know just from
eyeballing the person I can carry this person back to my vehicle because it's gonna have to be somewhat quick yes
there's a blitz attack definitely exactly that's that's what I think all right we are both exactly correct
all right Ladonna just double checking on something here because you are and where this case took place is Central
Standard time I am in Eastern time so I'm guessing though even though that this is Central Time that in December
we're probably 6 30 6 15 we're probably getting dark outside at that time right you're correct about that that time
about six six fifteen it's getting it's getting darker her her attacker had that Advantage
working for him for sure and he was most likely much larger than Melissa he was able able to overpower
her pretty quickly you know people ask me quite a bit if I think there were more than one person involved in the
case if you know there were multiple attackers you know anything is possible but not everything is probable and it's
just really unlikely that there was more than one attacker was Melissa a pretty small person she was a petite gal
um you know 125 pounds you know five six just you know would have been easily overpowered and it appears that she
would have been struck over the head with some type of object exactly exactly examiner's report did indicate
that she had been struck in the head the head wound was not fatal but it would have caused the bleeding and it would
have most likely you know knocked her unconscious possibly for you know a period of time so that's definitely
somebody struck her in Anger you know maybe they did strike her because she wouldn't come with them or they were
trying to control the situation or you know in my opinion it was somebody that she knew in my
opinion and I think it just got out of hand really quick given what we now know it would lead me to believe a couple
different things here that either she like you had said captain that she was followed there
or that's my gut feeling or this was some type of crime of opportunity where there was a person leaving the bowling
alley that saw her or for some reason was already in that parking lot so Ladonna is that the two possibilities I
would add maybe a third thought to that as well though is that she sometimes did attend
league night with her mom so you know her mom did Bowl every Thursday night now Melissa didn't go
every Thursday night she didn't even go every other Thursday night she didn't go
often enough that someone would have been certain she would have been there but if someone had known her
they would have known it's a possibility that she was there so that's something to think about too I really do truly
believe that whoever attacked and killed Melissa Witt had met her at least once before I think that they wanted Melissa
Witt I think that she rejected them and I think that they were there either hoping she was going to be there or they
followed her with the intent of either trying to win her over and woo her or maybe maybe their intent was to murder
her I mean I can't say for certain I mean when we talk a little bit more about how she died it's a very intimate
crime which also indicates that it was somebody that she knew definitely a crime of passion Melissa's body was not
found until about six weeks later can you tell us how and who found her I can't she was found
um six weeks later in Franklin County and a portion of Franklin County that's called Ozark Arkansas it was in the
Ozark National Forest she was found off an Old Logging Road and she was found by
two Trappers and there's a lot of mystery around this because these Trappers traveled that
road every single day and she hadn't been there the day before you know they came that morning January
13th and and you know the founder that day and the night before the Fort Smith Police Department had received a phone
call an anonymous phone call from what is believed to be a grandmother and her grandson and the
grandmother was urging her grandson to tell police what he had found but he um was too afraid to
talk on the phone and basically um they ended the call police weren't were not able at that time you know
unfortunately because of technology to trace that call but it's believed that that call was about Melissa Witt we
believe that that person actually found her body and moved her body from where the killer
had had placed it her body had originally been placed behind a rock this large Rock off of that Logging Road
that actually kind of looks like a tombstone I've been there and and this rock is actually kind of uphill from the
road so when you think about this in context of you know when she died how she died
um and in the location of where he he took her and where he placed her body it's all very
it's concerning it's someone in my opinion that knew that area and most likely lived in that area uh you know
there there's a lot of different theories on um you know when Melissa Witt died and I'm
not so certain that it was that day law enforcement believes that it was that day but there you know I think it's
possible that there was a couple of days of discrepancy there so if she wasn't killed the day that she was taken
so this monster that takes her could have took her somewhere and held her captive and possibly tortured her for a
couple days um completely nude the killer had taken you know all of her clothing her socks
and her shoes he had taken her other earring and he had taken her Mickey Mouse watch and he also took her purse
so none of her belongings have ever been found and it makes you question this jack wagon of this grandson like why
you've been moving the dead body note to kids don't move the dead body and Ladonna that's that is a crazy thing
right there because we've read about this case quite a bit and this was not something that we had come across so to
the idea that someone finds this body potentially finds his body and moves it it makes you wonder what other
involvement this person would have had in this case well you know and I I asked myself that too you know I have you know
asked a lot of questions of the lead detective and then the retired detective you know who originally had the case and
I've worked on this project for two years and I've just I'm perplexed by that because you know what that means
for this this poor girl who was murdered is that not only did she meet an attacker in this parking lot
and he takes her to this remote location you know she's killed she's placed behind the Rock and then somebody else
comes along and moves her I mean that's just horrific to me and it's it's it's really
unlikely that the person who moved or didn't know about the crime and you know there's always debate back and forth
especially on my team about you know part of my team thinks the person that moved her is the person that
killed her I personally don't think that I think they had some kind of knowledge
of the crime but you know I've seen the medical examiner's report it was not a large animal that moved her because
we've been asked that you know because there is bare activity up in that area it was not a bear that moved Melissa it
was a human we're positive of this because of the way her body was moved and how it was laid out you know there
was animal activity unfortunately on the body but it was small animal activity which would be typical of of any kind of
of you know corpses left out in in a national forest so you know we're confident that it was a human that was
involved and in the location is remote I mean it is remote and you would have to
know where you were going and you know it's not someone that killed her and then you know rushed to to
dispose of the body because they certainly wouldn't have driven almost an hour away when there are
tons of other places closer that they could have disposed of a body I mean this location meant something to
somebody it's just so isolated and you certainly wouldn't have been able to go there at night had you never been there
before and then find your way back out like I said I've been there multiple times and it's it's eerie
it's it's a very eerie location now when you say that this area meant something to her killer meant something to the
person that placed her there you mean the area that she was found absolutely I think that this could have been a
favorite hunting spot for the person that killed her perhaps it was a favorite spot for someone that had grown
up in the area um I just think that there was a reason why they chose that particular Rock to
put her body behind because I'm telling you it looks like a tombstone it's just very very eerie and we've got
several several very you know good suspects that would have had reason to know that location and and to have
frequented that location so I really do believe that that location meant something to someone you know they had
been there multiple times well and maybe if this location means something to them
they placed her there so they could come back to visit and I know that sounds sick well she was originally placed
behind the Rock and then she was moved from behind that rock about 10 feet away from The Rock in full view of that
Logging Road so whoever moved or wanted her to be found so she was never going to be found behind that rock
is just the likelihood was very very um slim but as far as you know law enforcement believes that she was taken
there that night and she was killed there that night so they believe that she left Bowling
World with her attacker and that's immediately where he drove and and killed her and she was strangled
and she was strangled there at that location we know that for a fact and nothing of hers or nothing of an
unidentified persons was found with her no no oh and that's what makes it even more frustrating it's
almost like you know and I say this carefully because I don't know it for certain but
it's almost like they worked really hard to cover up any of their DNA tracks now
you know in 1994 we were just seeing the rise of DNA in different kinds of court
cases you know at that time everything was happening with the O.J Simpson trial and so we were seeing a
rise in that being used but most people didn't really know about that really and certainly didn't know what steps to
take to maybe you know prevent somebody from being able to find DNA but you know they did
take her clothes they took everything that she had they did that for a reason and here's where my mind goes Ladonna is
it it makes me wonder and suspect that whoever either moved the body and or killed her that maybe they went to this
scene multiple times and I don't mean so much to visit with the body let's say I
mean simply just to collect evidence we have a situation where we know that she was brought to that location and then
killed well if she was taken their like law law enforcement would believe that evening
and killed there that night she was killed in a remote wooded area in the dark it would be damn near impossible to
assure yourself as the killer that you've located every piece every belonging that she brought with her to
that location and that you in fact didn't drop any of your belongings there that evening as well you're exactly
correct I mean you're exactly right I've played that scenario in my head and I do
believe that the person that killed her and maybe some other that found out about the crime did visit the scene you
know there were there were some reports and and we have a composite sketch that has been circulating of a car and a man
that was in the car that was seen on that Logging Road um not long before her body was found
and so being able to identify who that man is is you know a mystery but here's another theory that I'd like to
kind of put out there you know and again it's my opinion but you know it's it's hard for me to believe that someone has
attacked her and then drove her an hour away okay because she would have not been
unconscious the entire time she would have woken up at some point so how did they subdue her for that 50
60 mile car ride they take her out to this location they most likely sexually assault her
because she is found you know nude right so did they sexually assault her out in the cold in December
up on a hill behind a rock I mean that makes no sense I mean we know that she died at that location because according
to the medical examiner there was debris from that area that they were able to determine came
from that area in her lungs and in her Airway so we know that she she that's how she died
it seems more plausible to me that perhaps he lived nearby and she escaped him maybe the next day
maybe the day after and he chased her and she came to that location and he caught her and he killed her
that seems more plausible to me but I you know I had to base that I debate that with the retired detective and I
debate that with my team I mean it's we don't know for sure but that does seem to me in my opinion to make the
most sense I really just don't see how all of that could have happened and the cleanup been so precise
unless maybe it happened you know the way I'm suggesting or maybe they did come back to the site multiple times
which makes the crime even more disturbing really and tells me even more that maybe this person you know cared
about Melissa in some way you know to keep coming back and visiting it's a possibility but you know my fear
is is that we're never going to find out I mean here we are two decades later and
it's just we still are seeking those answers so just to be clear here if she were left behind that rock she most
likely would have never been found and then she's moved down to the road where it's very obvious that she would
be found and be found very quickly well she would move closer to be viewable the road
a body that had been decomposing for six weeks I mean that is a horrific thing to do
I I still get chills when I think about that but you really want to wonder about
the psychology of the fact that somebody moves this body it almost it almost goes to one of two
things for me that either someone was showing some form of remorse for finding Melissa or knowing that she was there or
putting her there one is hard to believe with a body so decomposed that somebody
would move it by accident or you know it'd be a younger person that was curious about the dead body because it
was so decomposed but it's still a probability and you see like maybe maybe there's remorse that somebody wants her
to be found so that there's some form of closure for Melissa's family um maybe so that she receives a proper
burial rather than being laying out in the woods um or does somebody want credit for this does
somebody want it to be known that she didn't just leave on her own or that she was kidnapped right does somebody want
some form of credit in the newspapers or on the news that she was in fact taken and she was in fact murdered exactly or
maybe Maybe a drug induced told someone else and they they were overwhelmed with
guilt and they moved the body I mean you know it's possible that a hunter did come across the body it's
possible I'm not and I'm not sure I can understand why they would move the body and then not report it to police or not
just call police and say hey I found this body there has to be a reason why they would be afraid that they would be
blank or why they wouldn't just come forward there has to be a reason but figuring that out I mean that just
adds to the the absolute mystery and just almost Insanity in this case it's like how many
things can go up against you know us being able to solve this and bring some closure and justice for
Melissa wood it's frustrating I lose a lot of sleep over it I'm gonna be honest I lose a lot
of sleep over it what else can you tell us about that strange phone call that was received with a grandmother and a
grandson calling about Melissa or about the body can you give us any more insight into that
really just that they know that the caller was calling about Melissa Witt as far as them releasing that recording
um to the public to hopefully identify who those people were they've never done that
um it is something that we'd like to include in the documentary so that's something that we're working towards
being able to do but that's that's as much knowledge as I have on it I mean it was a pretty brief call but you know we
are certain that the call was about Melissa Witt and you know the person that wouldn't talk you know wouldn't say
very much the young man I believe he was truly terrified I think he was terrified
maybe maybe traumatized by what he had found or maybe he was afraid he was going to be blamed or maybe he had
information that he just you know didn't want to share because he feared for his life I
mean that's possible let's go back into the early stages of the investigation what were their initial leads and what
were their what were they tracking down to begin with are they questioning classmates were they questioning family
members so everybody close to Melissa Melissa man that she'd had lunch with that day that very day
um you know those people were all able to be cleared you know people at the community college were looked at
you know they were brought in they requested um sex offenders were brought in they
were questioned there were about 300 people that were heavily interviewed in this case I mean there was one man who
had committed a murder um you know in the next town over and you know it was could have been similar
it was a parking lot type of crime and you know they brought him in and of course you know that led to nothing
there was a a another suspect who you know they interviewed him many times but he was you know posing as a police
officer not far from where the bowling alley was and um they were able to clear him you
know they do have people that they've looked at that failed polygraphs that they've not been able to clear I mean
there are a lot of suspects in this case um yeah and I've been very intrigued and
also very disturbed by the amount of level three sex offenders that were in the area
and that didn't have an alibi that could have been responsible for this crime I mean it just it blows my
mind so the the investigation to you know the credit of law enforcement it was thorough they worked it hard they
worked every lead that came in they were determined and are still determined to solve Melissa's case there was just a
lot of unfortunate things that happened you know about six months after um this happened a young girl a child
went missing and it's one of the most infamous cases in the state of Arkansas and the United States
and that did divert media attention and the Public's attention away from Melissa's case it didn't deter Fort
Smith you know Fort Smith Law Enforcement but you know let's let's be honest six-year-old girl went missing
and you know that greatly affected what happened even with the media keeping the
story alive so it was just a series of unfortunate events well Captain I'm glad that the
investigators did that I'm glad that the police did that and what is that they did the old pervert Roundup
they did their old uh due diligence on the perverts they don't always do that in these cases and I don't understand
why sometimes I question the the investigations but when you talk to all the people that she went to school with
and when you talk to the guy that she had lunch with that day when you talk to the family and you can't come up with
any leads the bowling alley doesn't provide any leads you go after the Pervert you got to do the old pervert
Roundup yeah show me your hands and sorry if nobody likes that term but guess what that's what the detectives
and the cops call it when you are not standing right next to them well we have a lot of what was it level three sex
offenders yeah so level three sex offenders and I think um just to maybe maybe we should be
clear that this this Fort Smith area of Arkansas is probably not as bad as uh ladonna's making its sound there with
the number of level three sex offenders but when you have that amount of level threes in the area you have to talk with
them because because the the recidivism rates are between 70 and 80 percent in a lot of
these cases right and and so there's there's a strong argument that these level three sex offenders cannot be
rehabilitated that they will go out and they will offend again yeah it's just a matter of time really the nice thing is
when you're doing the old pervert Roundup that it's actually not that complicated of a process because it's
kind of like the Cupid Shuffle slide to the left well every single one of them that had nothing to do with this murder
or this Abduction of this 19 year old girl every single one of them wants to talk to you yeah all you have to do is
make a phone call or knock on a door and they will tell you everything if they've
got nothing to hide they will tell you everything because they're so afraid of going back to prison uh because all of
them are on parole you know and so so it's usually a pretty easy thing to do I'm just shocked that there were so many
in the area but I applaud the investigators for making the extra efforts well the fact that they were
also registered I mean that that's the scariest thing and we've talked about it before but you can look it up
um basically our government tells you hey there's about a hundred thousand uh sex offenders that should be
registered that we have no clue where they're at over a hundred thousand I mean lock your doors well if you want some
education on the difference between the levels of one two and three on sex offenders I believe we discussed that at
length during our fifth nail uh episodes but basically with the level threes these aren't guys that this isn't like
some guy that was peeing in a park late at night when he was drunk and the cops saw him no usually usually this involves
some form of abduction some form of threat of of death or bodily injury to the person that that they're offending
against or it's a minor and a young minor I believe it varies by state but it's probably I would guess 12 12 years
old in in this state so these are bad very very bad people and so they're we're not breaking any rules we're not
infringing on anyone's rights in my opinion by rounding these guys up and asking them very simple questions where
were you on December 1st 1994 and who can tell us that you were where you say you were it's very simple well maybe we
should have Ladonna kind of talk about the area so people can get a better picture of
what was going on in 1994 on December 1st it was 1994. and fortunately I think everybody
will be disturbed to know the truth of the fact is that there are level three sex offenders in everybody's
neighborhood and in their greater surrounding areas it this is just something that is kind
of in your face more when someone goes missing and you dig in and you dive in and you do that investigative work and
you find that out so I think for the most part people didn't know that you know Fort Smith is kind of a Crossroads
town it's you know about what 75 80 000 people it's um you know pretty close to the border right there
where where Oklahoma is it's just one of those areas that you know on the surface
seems okay it seems safe you know Melissa had no reason her family had no reason
to think differently you know there had not been any kind of case like this that
had happened in their town or in the state for that matter until this happened and so I think the
town you know the family the town all of us all of us at that time were naive and I think that
people are still naive today I mean this is really I have kids of my own I have seven kids believe it or not and
um you know it's really made me be more aware of of what's in my own community and it's it's disturbing but I think
that if all of us kind of really took notice in our own backyard we would we would live our lives a little bit
differently but nobody was doing that especially back in the 90s I mean they just weren't
they just these are not things that you thought about or that you knew about did
the bowling alley have any surveillance footage did they have any cameras inside
the building or out in the parking lot so that maybe they could draw a lead from someone leaving the bowling alley
or some form of activity in the parking lot Bowling World did not have security cameras in the parking lot and they
didn't have very good Lighting in the parking lot and to this day even after this crime happened
they do not have security cameras in their parking lot it's something that's really frustrating to me especially in
this day and age but no there's no security cameras and in fact some of the buildings that were surrounding Bowling
World at the time and there weren't a lot they didn't have any kind of security footage that would have been
pointing towards Bowling World so there's nothing nothing now you know there's some neighboring
you know convenience stores and some other stores that they were able to try to look at
footage then to see if they could put you know put some things together but it wasn't close enough to Bowling World to
be able to um to make any kind of identification on who who took Melissa Witt it's just like
they came out of nowhere like a ghost and took her [Music] we have a lot more to get to with this
Melissa Wick case thanks for hanging out in the garage with us we hope everybody
has a great evening have a great night we'll see you tomorrow until then be good be kind and don't litter
[Applause] thank you [Music]

Melissa Witt /// Part 1 /// 161

Part 1 of 2

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com

December 1, 1994- 19 year old college student Melissa Witt goes missing from Bowling World in Fort Smith, Arkansas. When she is first reported missing the police suspect that she had runaway. Later Melissa's car was found abandoned in the bowling alley's parking lot. Once they located the vehicle investigators quickly found evidence that suggested Melissa had been attacked and abducted after exiting her vehicle. Tonight we are joined by Missing Persons advocate LaDonna Humphrey as we explore this strange cold case. A cold case that certainly does not lack suspects.

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Brief Summary

The episode covers the unsolved murder of Melissa Witt and insights from advocate Ladonna Humphrey on the investigation's challenges.

Key points

Open Letter to a Killer. A chilling message to Melissa Witt's murderer, emphasizing their ties to the community.
The Disappearance of Melissa Witt. Exploring the case of a 19-year-old who went missing in 1994, leading to a tragic discovery.
The Discovery of Blood Evidence. Blood pools found in the parking lot suggest a violent attack on Melissa.
Eyewitness Confusion. Witnesses misidentified Melissa, complicating the investigation.
The Mysterious Call. An anonymous call hints at someone knowing about Melissa's body.
The Eerie Location. The area where the body was found is described as eerie and significant to the killer.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

you won't be able to hide forever.

A warning to the killer about eventual justice.

6:49WatchNov 28, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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