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

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going strong in 2018 all right Captain that's enough of the business everybody gather around
grab a chair grab a beer let's talk some true [Music] crime [Music] [Music] n this is an open letter to Melissa witz
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 of time
before they figure you out once they suspect the horror 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 in 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 wit there have been over 2 and A5 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 you
are arrested and convicted for what you have done this is the case of Melissa [Music]
wit a while back Captain we started looking into an old Cold Case this is the disappearance of Melissa wit Melissa
wit was a 19-year-old who went missing from a parking lot in Fort Smith Arkansas back in December of 1994 yeah
and about 6 weeks later they're going to find Melissa wit's body and about two weeks ago we were lucky enough to speak
with Lonna Humphrey who has dedicated her life to missing persons cases for over a decade now and she knows all the
details about the Melissa wit murder investigation she's been there working on it for quite some time and and let's
listen in as Lonna tells us more about herself and tells us how she got involved in the case of Melissa wit well
I am the executive producer for a documentary that U my team is putting together about um Melissa wit um it's
entitled uneven ground the Melissa wit story and we became involved in her case really because of my background so I
have been a missing person's advocate for just over a decade um in fact um 11 years ago I helped to co-found an
organization that um 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 um many resources given to missing children but
nothing really um for adults and in that process um that team that nonprofit 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 um 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
wit'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
because technically Melissa wit 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 um 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 me the Melissa wit case can you tell us about Melissa wit and
what kind of person she was and what was she doing leading up to 1994 Melissa wit
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 um a great student she was very involved in um her
school she was involved in church activities she really really really um never met a stranger didn't have any
enemies Melissa grew up um and lived with her single mother um Maryann wit 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 um Melissa um doesn't have any um biological siblings but she um did have some
siblings that um were related to her through her father's side of the family so and 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 wh so this this case really hits home for me because she was just an
allaround likable lovable girl now in 1994 Melissa wit was a college student is that correct that's right in 1994 um
Melissa was attending the community college in Fort Smith what what was then called West AR Community College it's
now the University of Arkansas in Port Smith but it was westart Community College at the time she was wrapping up
her her first um semester of school you know that December 1st was a Thursday and she was going about her 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 um 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 left 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 on 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 believ 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 went to bowling world that evening absolutely we do have
proof that she did go to bowling world that evening her car was um found in the parking lot but it is believed that she
arrived at at Bowling World approximately it's beli 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 Wht 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 in process we have a college aged girl Melissa wit 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 it sounds like the person that helped her with her vehicle was unknown to Melissa
wit 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 guy or girl I think was a battery issue that
the they had to jump start her car mhm but guy or girl I'm I'm guessing a guy helped helped her I have no information
as to the gender of the coworker or the gender of the good samarit 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 going to go hang out with
her her mother yes and so she would have finally left work around a quarter till
6 stopping off at her home and then as you said going to bowling world to meet up with her mom uh 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 uhhuh 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 Lonna 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 AP part at the beginning because Melissa never went
inside the bowling alley her mom assumed that she know 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 Maryann was
concerned Melissa had gone on to do something else so it wasn't until tell Mary and wit had gone home and Melissa
didn't come home that night so about 3:00 in the morning after you know calling friends and 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 Maryann went went back
home she called the police the next morning and when um the patrolman came out to take the report from Maryann
wentt 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 Maryann had to say well yes we did have a small argument that
morning and they did it was a typical argument 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 8 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 teenage years right and they had some kind of spat
with mom or dad or both and that's reported in the missing person's 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 that's like uh but I think in these
cases we shouldn't assume that they're a Runway and that they're going to come back and we're going to see them the
next day or so now Lonna 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
Maryann 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 wires 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 wit 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 wit mhm 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 lot
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 keys 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 wit 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 he was able to tell you know law enforcement hey this happened at 7:30 so 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 wit they found um a crushed hairclip that belonged to Melissa wit they found um
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 um some witnesses come forward that said that they had
seen an argument in the parking lot you know another Witnesses witness had said you know he had heard screams and so
they were able then to take all of that information and 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 want to guess what it's called The Three Amigos no it's just two people well that's why
it would have been extra funny U balls of steel there you go that's what happens when you're in like 8th 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 911 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
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 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 but but really you would end up to this
conclusion regardless whether this man came forward or not saying that he found the keys 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 a quarter till 6
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 pulls of blood I mean 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 are 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 some somebody would turn them into the front
desk you're assuming the person that lost their keys is inside bowling M 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 well it's a little
suspicious to me we'll get right back to the case of Melissa Whit right after this quick beer
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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 I can um
so there let's start with the blood so the blood pools um and I'm going to give you what my opinion is after I've you
know stud 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 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 asant 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 truck 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 and it's really um it's 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 Whit that was arguing in the parking lot with an African-American male and when that
story broke and they did a composite scet based on a couple of the witnesses this story um about Melissa wit 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 wit and there are people to this day that even I've interviewed for our documentary who they just swear that it
was Melissa wit 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 and 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 as a
women's league night and 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 wit 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 um 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 an africanamerican male but it was just a different girl but that's kind of how
some of these cases never get solved it's CU 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 are
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 wit right that's what they
say that's and then you're like o 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 wit this is not who was arguing with Mel a
wi 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 followed her there this s her and 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 her approach approached her and had some kind of brief interaction with her
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 um 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 cuz 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 MH 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 going
to 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 fool I mean if you try you drive by a bowling alley like like
on a Tuesday that there's no league night I mean it looks like the place has gone under there's nobody there right
but you go on a league night it's like you know it it seems like bowling's like the best thing since sliced bread so
there's tons of people on the parking lot you know that if you're going to 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 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 Tak to get the victim from where I attack into my vehicle 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 mhm 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 okay 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 you know cuz you something that was really
interesting before that was said before was this was uh league night this was ladies league night and somebody would
know that somebody in the area would very likely know that so if you're if you're going to pray 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 cuz it's going to have to be somewhat quick yes it was a blitz attack
definitely exactly that's that's what I think all right we are both exactly correct all right Lonna 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 time about 6 6:15 it 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 lb you know 56 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 it you know when her body was recovered the medical examiner examiner report did
indicate that she had been struck in the head the head wound um 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 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 yeah 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 re reason was already in
that parking lot so Lonna 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 wit had met her at least once before I think
that they wanted Melissa W 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 uh 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 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 um 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 they found her that day and the night before the Fort Smith Police Department had received a phone
call an anonymous phone call from um 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 the technology to trace that call but it's believed that that call was um about Melissa wit 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 um 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 and 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 I you know there there's a lot of different
theories on um you know when Melissa wit died and I'm not so certain that it was
that day um law enforcement believes 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 that's what's frightening to
me because you know she was found 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 mouth 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 are you moving the dead body note to kids don't move the dead body and Lonna 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 this 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'm 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 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 her 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 report it was not a large animal that moved her because we've been
asked that you know because there is bear activity up in that area it was not a bear that moved Melissa it was a human
we're 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 corpse that is left out in in international Forest so you know confident that it was a human that was
involved and and and 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 isol ated 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 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 mean 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 her wanted her to be found so she was never going to be
found behind that rock it 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 um there at that location we know that for a fact
and nothing of hers or nothing of an unidentified person's was found with her no no and that's what makes it even more
frustrating it's almost like you know 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
OJ 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 Lonna is it it makes me wonder and suspect that whoever either moved the body and or killed her that maybe 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 there 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
play that scenario in my head and I do believe that the person that killed her and maybe some others 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 sitting 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 attacked her and then drove her an hour away okay because she would have not
been inconscious the entire time she would have woken up at some point so how did subdue her for that 50 60 mile car
ride they take her out to this location they um 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 um 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 debate 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 clean up 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 that's it's a possibility but I 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 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 OB VI that she would be found and be found very quickly
well she was moved closer to be viewable from the road right you think about that
they moved a body that had been decomposing for six weeks I mean that is a horrific thing to
do I I still get chilled when I think about that but you really want to wonder about the psychology of the fact that
somebody moves this body mhm 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 it's 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 mhm um maybe so that she receives a PO 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 that she was in fact taken and she was in fact murdered exactly or or maybe or maybe
the killer in a drug induced State told someone else and they they were overwhelmed with guilt and they moved
the body I mean it you know it's possible that a hunter did come across the body it's possible I'm not 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 blamed 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 ab 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 from a little
bit it's frustrating I lose a lot of sleep over it I'm going to 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 I mean there was enough
information given on the call that they know that the caller was calling about Melissa wit 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 wit 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 were they questioning classmates were they
questioning family members so everybody and close to Melissa was looked at and looked at very closely including the
young man that she had had lunch with that day that very day um you know those people were all able
to be cleared you know people um at the community college were looked at you know they were brought in they were
questioned um sex offenders were brought in they were questioned um there were about 300 people that were heavily
interviewed in this case I mean there was one man who um 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 um crime and you know they brought him in
and of course you know that led to nothing there was a another suspect who you know they interviewed him um many
times but he was um 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 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's 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 wi 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 investig 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 perverts 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 offend
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 Ladon is making it 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% 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 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 effort well the fact that they were also registered I mean that that's
the scariest thing and we've talked about it before for but you can look it up um basically our government tells you
hey there's about 100,000 uh sex offenders that should be registered that we have no clue where
they're at over a 100,000 I mean lock your doors well and 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 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 you it 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 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 Lonna kind of talk about the area uh 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 there and in their greater
surrounding areas it this is just something that um it's kind of in your face more when someone goes missing and
you you dig in and 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 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 has really I have kids of M
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 um 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 wet it's just like they came out of nowhere like a ghost and took her we have a lot more to get to with
this Melissa Whit 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 [Music]
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Melissa Witt /// Part 1 /// 161

Part 1 of 2

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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

Melissa Wit, a 19-year-old, went missing in 1994; her case remains unsolved despite extensive investigation and advocacy efforts.

Key points

The Disappearance of Melissa Wit. Melissa Wit, a 19-year-old college student, went missing in December 1994. Her case remains unsolved.
A Mother's Instinct. Maryann Wit knew something was wrong when her daughter didn't come home. Her search led to a police report.
The Search Begins. After two days of searching, the major crimes unit got involved in Melissa's case.
The Bowling Alley Incident. A confrontation leads to a mysterious abduction case.
Eyewitness Confusion. Misleading eyewitness accounts complicate the investigation.
Crime of Passion. The nature of the crime suggests a personal connection.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You carry the horror of the crime you committed.

Open letter to Melissa's killer

4:32WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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