Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Gorgeous Small Town Wisconsin Mom Goes Missing. Family Begs for Help.

Episode Date: April 25, 2022

It's been nearly six months since mom of three, Melissa Trumpy has been seen. Her disappearance came shortly after she and her boyfriend at the time, 35-year-old Derek Hammer, were arrested at Trumpy’s home in Monticello, Wisconsin, for drug-related crimes.  Trumpy had reportedly agreed to cooperate with investigators and serve as a witness against Hammer.  Since Trumpy went missing, Hammer was arrested for alleged bail jumping.  Hammer served prison time in Nevada for battery by strangulation and possession of an explosive device, according to prison records. Authorities have not named Hammer as an investigative target in Trumpy’s disappearance. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Benny Affrunti - Father of two of victim's children, Change.org Petition: "**Missing Melissa Trumpy** Keep Derek Hammer In Jail" Mandy Mboge - Victim's Sister   James Shelnutt - 27 years Atlanta Metro Area Major Case Detective, Former S.W.A.T. officer, Attorney, The Shelnutt Law Firm, P.C., www.ShelnuttLawFirm.com, Twitter: @ShelnuttLawFirm  Dr. Shari Schwartz - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy), www.panthermitigation.com, Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrialDoc, Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect" (Miami Beach, FL)   Lisa M. Dadio - Former Police Lieutenant, New Haven Police Department, Senior Lecturer, Director of the "Center for Advanced Policing" at the University of New Haven's Forensic Science Department Stephanie Quirk - Multimedia Journalist/Reporter, WIFR 23 News (Rockford, IL)  Instagram/Twitter: @StephanieTQuirk See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. When you see her, you may think she's a model. This young mother of two goes missing. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of Melissa Trumpy is swirling. And the more I investigate, it seems as if the more tentacles it develops and the murkier the mystery becomes. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. The more I delve into the disappearance of Melissa Trumpy, the more I find out the more obscure and odd different players in this scenario are and the more possibilities as to her whereabouts develop.

First of all, take a listen to our friends WMTV. Right now, a search underway to find a woman from Monticello. The Greene County Sheriff's Office says Melissa Trumpy was last seen on Tuesday in Monroe. NBC 15's Gabriella Rusk spoke with her family today who are desperately looking to bring her home. Authorities say Melissa is believed to have traveled to Shannon, Illinois the night she went missing. Shannon is about an hour away from Monroe and that area is where loved ones spent hours searching for her. In cornfields, in woods, under bridges, in creeks. While searching for Melissa Trumpy. She deserved better than that. She really did. Families say the 37 year old is a loving mother. She's got three beautiful kids,

amazing kids and you know they love her very much and the Carroll County Sheriff's Office believes Melissa may have been driving a tan Toyota sedan anyone with any information is asked to call Carroll County Crime Stoppers just wait for a jury, but I can say it now to you. Put yourself in the position of Melissa's family. Think about it. I don't like thinking about one of my children being missing or my husband being missing. I don't like to do that, but just go with it for one moment. Think in your mind.

You don't have to say it out loud. The person you love the most in the world. Now, imagine yourself driving aimlessly around town, around the area, looking in cornfields. You ever been in a cornfield? That's why they make mazes out of them. You can't see a thing. The corn is much taller than you are, and you're just going through it randomly.

Sometimes you can't even get out of it. You don't know which way to turn. Fighting your way through cornfields, under bridges, looking under bridges. Have you ever driven by bridges on the interstate and you see homeless encampments there? Imagine looking through that, looking for that person, that needle in a haystack, cornfields in woods, in creeks. You know, when you're looking for somebody in a creek, you're assuming that they're dead and they're lying in aks. You know, when you're looking for somebody in a creek, you're assuming that they're dead and they're lying in a creek.

Under bridges, driving through neighborhood after neighborhood, looking. That's what her family has gone through. And her children are wondering, where's mommy? When I go out of town for one or two days for work, when I come home, the house is a wreck. Fine, don't care. But I look in the twins' backpacks and they have all this stuff in there for like two or three days. Everything's just gone to, well, hell. Hell in a handbasket. It looks like there's no food in the cat and dog's bowl. I'm like, what have they been eating and drinking?

It's just, these children don't have their mom to hold it all together for them. Why? Where is she? With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, James Shelnut. 27 years, master of major case, now lawyer at ShelnutLawFirm.com. Dr. Sherry Schwartz, forensic psychologist specializing in crimes and victim advocacy. She is the author of Criminal Behavior and Where Law and Psychology Intersect. Lisa M. Daddio, former police lieutenant in New Haven, senior lecturer and the director for the Center of Advanced Policing. Stephanie Quirk joining us, multimedia journalist, reporter, KIFR 23.

Benny Affronti is joining us. He is the father of Melissa's youngest children. Benny, that is a huge hurdle to get over where you tell yourself, she's not missing. She's dead. And that's your mindset. It's no longer search. It's recovery.

How old are her youngest children? Mateo is six, almost seven, and Josie is eight. Oh, my stars. I didn't realize they were that little. Mateo is six and Josie is eight. Yeah. And then she has an older one, Delaina. Mandy and Boj.

This is Melissa's sister. Mandy, what are you saying about the oldest child? She's 15. So there's Delaina, who's 15. She was born with Melissa's first husband. And then they got divorced. And then Bunny and her met. And then they had Josie and Mateo, who's eight and six.

So eight, six, and 15. My children, Mandy, they're twins and they're 14. And you think, wow, this is the year they needed me the most. I thought that when they were born, because they were really premature. And I struggled every day just to keep them alive, especially Lucy. Then they started walking and then this and then

that. Then they went to school and thought, wow, they really need a mom. Somebody there in these first years of school. Then they got in middle school. Now they're going to high school and it's a whole new minefield of bombs that could go off and and and needs and wants for that parent so there is no good age to be without

your mom and you told me um Benny that Josie age eight will just start crying all the time? All the time. All the time. I miss mommy. I want mommy back. And even though it's been explained to the kids that mommy probably is not coming back. Oh.

They still have that hope. Josie will still say well I hope mommy does come back you know and that's even after me explaining you know they don't think Benny that she left because she wanted to do they oh they they know oh because that would even be worse. I mean, Dr. Sherry Schwartz, wouldn't that be worse if your child thought you left them and never came back as opposed to your mom being taken away? Absolutely, it would. You know, the thing is, it's a major trauma when one parent is absent. And it but it'll impact a child's self esteesteem if they believe that the parent left because of something, you know, kids naturally internalize. And so they think, oh, mom left because of me.

So in a way, them knowing that, you know, parent left through no fault of theirs, through no fault of the parents, and they would come back if they could, even though it's very little consolation, it's some. What was that last sentence? Even though it's very little consolation to the child, right? It's a little, but it is some consolation to know mom would be here if she could. Oh, gosh. You know, to you, Stephanie Quirk, joining me from WIFR, I got off on a tangent with Benny and Mandy because, you know, I'm projecting my own family if I or David were to go missing. But let's get down to what really happened. Take a listen to our friends at WIFR.

She just disappeared into thin air. Like, that doesn't happen. the sisters say they assume trumpy is most likely dead and their hopes to find a body so her children can finally have closure they say they are frustrated the police haven't given them any more information but understand that a lot of it has to be off the record. They have supplied manpower to help them during some of their law enforcement operations down in Illinois. But to this point, Melissa's unfortunately is still missing. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Let's start at the very beginning. Stephanie Quirk joining me, multimedia journalist and reporter, WIFR 23.

I know this went down in the Monticello, Monroe area of Wisconsin. Tell me about that. Is that rural, suburban, suburban urban is it a city what is it so Monticello is more of a rural area um that's where Melissa is actually from it's about 1200 people uh very low crime not a lot of crime at all um and Monroe is a city uh about 10,000 people um but where she was headed um is about in Shannon is about 800 people and that's about an hour drive um from Monticello also a very rural town considered very low crime almost none. You know, when I was researching her disappearance, I saw that Monticello is actually described as a village. Oh, yeah. The village. Yes. Very small. Because, you know, to you, James Shelnut, 27 years Metro major case, now lawyer with the Shelnut firm. James, I'm projecting again, I grew up in a very

rural area. It's more grown up now, but it was the Rutland community. It was not even a village. And to even get to a McDonald's, we had to drive 25 minutes, 25 minutes to get to a McDonald's. So let me just say we never went out to eat. I can tell you that much. So the reason I'm asking is because that bears on what happened. This mom, Melissa Trumpy, did not just walk off on her own. That did not happen. Correct me if I'm wrong, Lisa Daddio, former police lieutenant at New Haven PD, there's been no ATM movement, no credit card, no gas cards, no cell phone calls, no nothing.

Nothing. No anything has happened since she went missing, right? It's terrible. And the fact that there's been absolutely nothing is telling. It's scary. Of course, you've always got a Sherry Papini type thing, a gone girl scenario.

But there's no indication that happened here. So back to you, Shelnut, the area, we don't believe she left on her own, becomes significant because then you're looking at a pool of suspects. And if it's rural, it's highly unlikely that this is a stranger on a stranger kidnap. Oh, I agree with you 100%. And especially, you know, you're going to want to look for sure at who she was with and where she went missing from. And if she went missing from a small town, you're right.

Based off just population numbers, there's a smaller group of people to look at, a smaller chance that she's going to come in contact with someone who's transient that did something to her. And it certainly helps narrow down the search. I mean, we've had a lot of cases, not a lot. We've had some cases where a stranger attack occurred in a rural area by happenstance they were traveling through there's a possibility of a stranger and let's just say the Delphi murders of two little girls Abby and Abigail and Liberty Libby but it is few and far between that in a rural setting especially this small 1200 people and in the next village over 800 that a stranger is going to swoop in and take this young mom

without leaving a trace highly unlikely back to you stephanie quirk joining me wifr 23 Joining me, WIFR 23. Stephanie, tell me about when she went missing. So she was last seen October 26th, police say, in Monroe. She was believed to be heading towards her boyfriend's house in Shannon, Illinois. How far away is that between each other? That's about an hour from Monticello. So one hour. Hold on just a second. And Stephanie, do we know what

time of the day or night it was that she was heading to the uh one hour drive? I believe it was night. Okay what about it Benny or Mandy jump in what time did she set off? 10 30 she left her job here in Monroe and headed down. What was her job? She was a care provider for her best friend. Her best friend since they were in kindergarten when she was around 18 got into a car accident with a drunk driver and became paralyzed. So she committed her life to taking care of her best friend. So she went in home every day, got her up, took care of her throughout the day and then she'd go home, put her to bed. she did this for years did she get paid for that she did yeah so she was a professional caregiver i gotta tell you there is a special place in heaven for caregivers i have my soon to be 91 year old

mother with me lives with us and uh my my husband takes you know and he didn't sign up for that. He takes care of her. I take care of her. And you have to have a certain disposition to take care of someone day in, day out. You know, a lot of love. Got to have a big heart. You just told me a lot about Melissa by telling me what you just said. So she gets off and hops in her car.

Tell me about her car, Stephanie Quirk. So the next day after she was last seen, her truck was found in Bolton Road near Freeport. That's about 20 minutes north of Shannon. And all her belongings were in the vehicle with no sign of melissa hold on one moment now earlier i heard that she was driving a tan sedan so that's wrong right that's a toyota tundra thank you let's fix that a toyota tundra and uh color like a two-tone gray and silver gray and silver yeah and i'm asking for a reason i know it's been recovered but i'm asking for a reason gray silver two-tone toyota tundra do you have the year just by chance brand new she got it from enterprise so i'm guessing 2021 2022 toyota tundra you know one of the first things that should have been done i don't

know if this was done i know it's a small town i know that but a lot of people including myself have ring doorbell cams and do you yeah and do you know lisa daddio and i've got to tell you a wonderful example of this. Gosh, so many spring to mind. We all know about cult mom Lori Vallow and we know about how her children, seven-year-old JJ and teen girl Tylee just disappeared. Their remains found later on cult mom's new husband's property, dead. But the last, you know know to start your timeline the last video of jj is on a

ring doorbell and you see him running across the street at play jumping up in the air happy just playing he's seven years old yeah so there's that there is, there's so many. I always think of the missing Connecticut mom of five, Jennifer Dulos, where police did this fantastic job putting together a video timeline of where husband Photo Dulos had been around the time of her disappearance. For instance, they have ring doorbell. They have a bus door opening, a public bus, and the cam catches his car go by. They have video surveillance from all over the place. Now, I know these small towns may not have red light cams.

They may not have security cams in big parking lots at Walmart. But there are ring doorbells. That's the first thing, Lisa Daddio, is to get on every possible surveillance video around. Absolutely, Nancy. Looking at stores or any type of businesses from where she was last known to be, her friend's house at 1030 at night to where her car was found and going every route possible to see if there's any cameras that would have picked up anything from anywhere because you just never know. I want to talk about where her vehicle was found. To Stephanie Quirk joining us WIFR 23 where exactly between her job as a caregiver and going to see the boyfriend an hour away was her truck excuse me not the sedan the toyota tundra found so it was bolton road which is near freeport freeport the

city uh about 24 000 people in stevenson county 24. Okay, that's getting bigger. Bolton Road near, did you say Fremont? Freeport. Freeport, okay. Huh, would that have been en route to the Boyfriends? Yes. Okay, was it halfway? I wouldn't say halfway, like 40 minutes. Okay, now just think about it. Let's set the same, 10 30 at night. Was it 10 30 at night or in the morning? 10 30 at night. Okay same 10 30 at night was it 10 30 at night or in the morning 10 30 at night okay 10 30 at night you're 40 minutes in so you're now looking at um 11 10 11 15 she's driving along in her vehicle now where bendy benny a frontie her car is found on Bolton Road near Freeport. Was it on the side of the road? Did it look like she had had some kind of crash?

Did she strike a fixed vehicle? Did it go off the road? Or was it just neatly parked on the side of the road? Neatly parked in the ditch. It wasn't crashed into the ditch. We believe it was parked there. Okay, let me understand this. This is staging, guys.

This is staging. Because if she, in other words, after a crime scene, you adjust the crime scene in some way. Exactly. You could put a blanket over the dead person's head. You could make the house look like it was ransacked or burglarized. You could cover up the body with some leaves or branches. I've seen that. There's so many things. You could put a gun in the victim's hand. There's so many ways to stage a scene. You could send fake texts like Brian Laundrie sent fake texts purportedly coming from Gabby, his

fiance that he murdered. So all of that is staging. It can be elaborate or it can be simple. But if she were to run off the road, she would not have neatly parked down in a ditch. She'd pull it over in the emergency lane or right beside the road for people to see it. Maybe let the hood up. Maybe turn on emergency lights. But you don't go down into a ditch and then neatly park your car. No. Was the car locked and what condition was the car in? Were the windows busted out? Was the car locked? What can you tell me? Oh, and where was the driver's seat? Had it been pushed back for a man to drive that's taller than her?

Does anybody know the answer to any of that? Well, that's a good question because the police haven't really answered a whole lot of questions. Everything seems to be very secretive. But we did have this one police officer from Stevenson County, an investigative detective, who did tell us all of her personal effects were found in that vehicle. So when you say staging, he took the vehicle there, put her phone, her purse, all her belongings, even her shoes and her coat were in that vehicle.

Wait a minute. I didn't want to agree with you, Benny Affronti, that she is passed on. I did not want to agree with you. She walked away with no money no coat no shoes and my my sister she she took you know she's a typical woman she drives around with a lot of bags bags for everything you know bags for makeup she wouldn't ever leave without her phone her purse her makeup bag her shoes. I mean, everything was found in there. And where her vehicle was parked, there was a few houses up the road. And the frustrating part for us was when

we went door to door to them to look for ring cameras, like you were saying, we were the first ones to knock on their door. And it was right up the road from where her truck was parked, which means the police did not go there to see if they had ring cameras or nothing. And this is about two months after she went missing. Nobody went door to door there. James Shelnut, please tell me. The good news is that ring doorbell cam video is stored in the cloud, right? That's right.

So you can go back and get that even months and months later. So I'm not quite sure how to go about this, but I can tell you the Carroll County Sheriff's Office at 815-244-2635 or the Freeport Police Department 815-235-8222 would have some answers. Jackie, let's get in touch with them after today's program and see what they can tell us. But that's very disturbing that they have not gathered that. So we know that her truck was sitting there. Do we know if it was locked? Don't know that part.

We know her cell phone was in there? Her phone, yeah. It had a VPN. He had somehow set up a VPN on her phone and we had heard that her phone was bouncing off Kansas City in Singapore that night. Who told you that? The investigative detective from Stevenson County. Okay, for those of you that don't know, out to Lisa Daddio, explain a VPN and how that can work. So a VPN allows a user to tap into, for example, if I'm working from home, I could tap into my work computer utilizing a VPN, a portal to get me in where I actually access my desktop. And I can go ahead and do work as if I was sitting in my office from my desktop computer and all the files and everything that are on there.

So it allows me to look like I'm in my office, but I'm actually not in my office. A VPN. You can get VPN protection, for instance, from McAfee, but it can confuse where your phone appears to be. But there are ways for police to break a VPN and triangulate where that phone physically was. Do you know, Melissa? Melissa is the sister of missing mom, Melissa Trumpy. Do you know if the cops have done that yet? I believe they were trying to get the last we knew. The FBI was working with the technology part of that. Wait, did you say the FBI has been called in? Oh, the FBI has been, yes.

Okay, well, then you're going to get some answers if they're in on it. I find this very, very interesting. The fact that none of that Ring Doorbell Cam video had been sought by sheriffs or police. I wonder, do you know, Benny Affronti, if her truck was taken and processed? I believe that her truck is still in impound. Good. So nobody can tamper with it. It's actually a rental vehicle. Ah, that's really good. You know why that's good? Because it's probably got a nav system in it. Because rentals, I mean, that's the next thing. I would find out where that rental car had been that night. I mean, that's the next thing. I would find out where that rental car had been that night.

I mean, it ain't rocket science, people. But you have to, what it is, is diligence. That's how cases are cracked. Diligence. I mean, we're throwing things out right here, and we don't know if any of that has been done yet. But you know what? I may not be a rocket scientist. I may not be able to explain to you exactly how technical data

is gathered or interpreted. But I do know this. Take a listen to our cut four. This is Marta Berglund, WIFR. The vigil was held in front of the last place Trumpy was seen at her boyfriend Derek Hall's family house. Trumpy's family members say their absence is telling. I would say it's a clear sign that they're trying to hide something but I'm not the one to say that but I have a pretty good

instinct that that is what's happening. They've done nothing but avoid us from the very beginning. Everybody's lawyered up and not talking and hush hush. And the crazy thing is my sister thought the world of this family. Okay, right there. It's giving me a horrible flashback to Lacey Peterson. Do you remember that Dr. Sherry Schwartz where at the vigil for Lacey, Scott Peterson would not speak? Do you remember that? Yeah, I do remember that. He was in the background and he wouldn't speak and he wasn't asking for help to look for Lacey.

Remember killer fiance Patrick Frazee when fiancé goes missing, Kelsey Barrett? He did not go out and make public requests or pleas for her to be found. Here, this family is not coming to the vigil. Why are they not coming to the vigil? You know, it's interesting to Dr. Sherry Schwartz. Maybe they felt that they were under fire. Maybe they didn't want her boyfriend, Derek Hammer, to be under suspicion in any way because she was headed to his house the last night she was seen alive. But to not come to the vigil, I find that a very curious move on their part.

Well, it's deeply troubling, right? Because we know from other cases, most recently what comes to my mind is the Laundrie family, Brian Laundrie in the Gabby Petito case. Although there wasn't necessarily a vigil, the family wouldn't cooperate at all in giving her family any information about why he showed up at home without her. So it is very curious and it's deeply troubling. Why wouldn't you engage in the search? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace i want to talk about where she was last seen to mandy embosh this is melissa's sister i've got conflicting reports about where she was last seen and both of the reports do not place her in her Toyota Tundra where her you remember her car is found neatly put on the side of the road

now let me understand the boyfriend Derek Hammer 35 years old isn't his mother the town clerk yes the town treasurer she's at every town hall meeting where this is all not, she controls the paper, the website, and all of which have not publicized that she went missing down there. Which, I mean, and you'd think from an area of 800 people, somebody goes missing in your town, it would be big news. Huge big news. Right. And nachos and football was on the front page

the day her article was in there wait did you say nachos and football were on the front page yep that's what i said on the front page and hers is a small little article on the second page with a tiny little picture yeah the reason i ask about uh der, age 35, the boyfriend of missing mom Melissa Trumpy, is because one of the sightings apparently placed her at Hammer's mother, the town clerk or treasurer, as you said, at her home around midnight. What can you tell me about that, Benny Affronti? Yeah, Melissa was seen. I believe even Derek's mother had told police that she was there around midnight. And we had that confirmed by the Stevenson County Lieutenant Bradley Curtis, who is the head of investigations. She herself, according to your sources, states that Melissa was at her house the night she goes missing, October 26, at midnight.

Is that correct? Yes. Okay. Then I've got a conflicting statement. Where else do we know either Mandy and Boge or Benny Affronti? in beige or beanie a front tee she was later seen we think with derrick hammer the son the town clerk's son later that night at a cousin's house is that correct yep a steven dab kiss he was they were later the um the witness testimony is uh melissa came to to Derek's house that night. What it sounds like is Derek and Melissa got ready.

They picked up his cousin, Stephen, who stayed across the street from his mom sometimes. And then the three of them all went out to his apartment that night. Whose apartment? Stephen Dapkus. Stephen Dapkus is boyfriend Derek Hammer's cousin. Cousin. Okay. And the two mothers, the town clerk and the cousin's mom, live across the street from each other.

Yes, no. Yes, ma'am. So, let me get this straight. Melissa is seen at boyfriend mom, town clerk's house at midnight, according to the mom. And then later, we think, across the street at cousin's house at midnight, according to the mom. And then later we think across the street at cousin's house. No, this is what we believe is that Melissa was at Denise Hammer's house, Derek's mother's. Now, Stephen Dabkus is Derek's cousin. Stephen Dabkus' mother lives across the street from Derek's mother. But we believe that Stephen was at his mother's house across the street when

Melissa got to Derek's mother's house. And then Stephen joined them, came across the street from his mother's house. And then we've been told, there's not 100, there's a lot of speculation, but we've been told that the three of them together, Derek, Melissa, and Steven, drove from both of the mother's houses of the cousins to an apartment building outside of Mount Carroll where Steven has his own apartment. So that may have been her last sighting. I think the police really need to press this cousin, Steven Dapkus, but there's another clue. Take a listen to our Cut 11, our friend Rachel Perry at WTVO.

Court documents show Hammer has a history with her. He went the next day and told his teacher that he'd witnessed his mother being struck in the face by Derek Hammer. Just more than a month before Melissa Trumpy was last seen, her boyfriend Derek Hammer was charged with domestic abuse. His arrest came after Melissa's son told his teacher he saw Hammer yelling at Melissa before the night turned violent. And Derek pointed a shotgun at Melissa in front of my six-year-old son, Mateo. So he went into school and he told a teacher about that. Ben Affrenti is the father of Melissa's kids. He says they desperately want their mom back.

It's heartbreaking. I had my daughter wrote a Christmas wish list to Santa Claus a couple days ago and came and handed me to that. And, I mean, the biggest thing on there she wanted was santa to bring mom home mandy and bej he beat her before yeah so um the year leading up to my sister's disappearance we all actually had lived together me um Ben and the kids and then when Ben and Melissa broke up and Derek literally seemed to like move in by the end of the week it started by it was slow things I noticed it was like he was grooming her he he

started controlling everywhere she went everywhere she she, everybody she talked to, he was looking at her phone. She couldn't even go to Dunkin' Donuts with her daughter without him calling and accusing her of having sexual relations with someone. Or Walmart. One time we tried to get groceries

and he was blowing her up, fighting with her the whole time we were trying to get groceries. It started by him having tantrums, outbursts. And then it developed into a full-on domestic case where Ben Affronti, you say, according to your son, Mateo, age six, he saw, according to the six-year-old little boy, Derek Hammer hit Melissa, slap her in the face and pull a gun yeah he had Derek was screaming at Melissa about some pills that he couldn't find uh he struck I don't know if he thought Melissa took his pills or he just couldn't find them or whatnot but both of the kids were actually there present my six and and my eight-year-old my six-year-old son was actually the one that witnessed it.

And I think my daughter was in the home, but this happened, I think, in the garage. And so they go tell their teacher. And that is how the whole thing ends up being reported. She, Melissa, did not report it. Stephanie Quirk joining me, WIFR 23. That's not uncommon. Women so afraid that they won't tell anybody they're getting beaten and terrorized at home. Stephanie, Derek Hammer has been nabbed on other charges.

What are they? He has a lengthy list of charges. If I read them all, we'd be here a very long time. I mean, he has charges for bail jumping, eluding an officer, disorderly contact, possession of a firearm, drug trafficking, battery charges, eluding to domestic violence in Las Vegas. He strangled a woman and reports say the woman thought he was going to kill her and throw her over the balcony. On top of that, he has explosive charges, IED explosive charges, and unlawful use of a firearm that he actually fired at one of his ex-girlfriends while she was running away. Guys, please help us. This family has said they feel, quote, defeated.

They have nowhere else to turn. They're not getting answers. Melissa Trumpy is missing. Her three children beg for mommy to come home. Imagine if it were your children begging. Let me give you the tip lines. 815-244-2635. Repeat, 815-244-2635. Or, 815-235-8222. Repeat, 815-235-8222. You can also go to change.org and look for Missing Melissa Trumpy Keep Derek Hammer in Jail. And that's what I advise. Keep him in jail until you can build a case to find Melissa Trumpy. And as I sign off, let me remind you, no one has been named a person of interest. No one has been named a suspect. No one has

been charged or arrested in Melissa's disappearance. We wait as, God willing, justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.